Wood wins $50m GSK deal to sustain specialized meds manufacturing

GSK has awarded consulting and engineering firm Wood $50 million to sustain production of critical medicines at its Maryland plant.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said the investment is part of the company’s US capital project, which aims to sustain the global biopharma’s manufacture of critical speciality medicines. Under the terms of the three-year contract, Wood will act as the capital project delivery partner and provide engineering, procurement, construction, and validation (EPCMV) services for GSK’s site in Rockville, Maryland.

“As the need for specialty medicines increases, new manufacturing technologies and increased production is necessary to meet that demand. The capital improvements program will provide the necessary site upgrades that will enhance the production, performance and safety of the GSK Rockville, Maryland site,” a spokesperson from Wood told us.

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Wood said the award has derived from its ability to design and capital project solutions for GSK in the UK over the last 10 years. This project will be led by Wood’s US Life Sciences team as part of GSK’s strategy to develop its Rockville site with the latest scientific technology and equipment.

Under the partnership, Wood’s growing Life Sciences U.S. team will lead project delivery, applying proven global capital program management processes and expertise to deliver an advanced facility of the highest quality and safety standards.

“By contracting a trusted partner like Wood, GSK will be able to leverage the engineering and construction expertise that we provided to a cross-sector of clients globally – allowing the GSK production staff to focus to focus on the delivery of specialized medicine,” the spokesperson said.

Work is expected to begin in July 2023. However, the spokesperson could not disclose specific changes to the Rockville facility as the “exact program of works [is] to be decided.”

In 2017, GSK announced plans to invest $139 million at its Rockville site to increase the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing capacity for its lupus drug Benlysta. The expansion opened in October 2019.