Early this year, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics welcomed a royal visitor to its new manufacturing facility in South Wales. From Pencoed, local expertise in enhanced chemiluminescence is now serving a global market. In June of this year, HRH The Prince of Wales marked the opening of Ortho Clinical Diagnostics’ new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Pencoed, South Wales, with an official visit. The Prince of Wales, who has a personal commitment to the area, first toured the facility and then delivered a speech in which he praised the company’s commitment for building this innovative manufacturing centre. He also planted a commemorative tree and met with employees.
The development of this facility marks a substantial investment for Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (OCD). The company is part of Johnson & Johnson, the world's most comprehensive and broadly based manufacturer of healthcare products and related services for consumer, pharmaceutical and medical devices and diagnostics markets. The new 110,000 square foot facility will, when fully operational, employ more than 350 people in manufacturing operations, quality, regulatory, product support, human resources, finance and information technology.
Located on the Pencoed Technology Park, north-west of Cardiff, the facility will replace the company’s existing Cardiff plant by the end of 2010. The first product was shipped from Pencoed in April 2009, and existing Cardiff staff members are in the process of transferring to the new Pencoed facility. This phased approach is essential due to the extensive regulatory licence procedures necessary to make highly sophisticated diagnostic tests for multiple disease states available to markets worldwide.
Enhanced chemiluminescence chemistry
Today, immunodiagnostic tests from OCD are used as an aid to the diagnosis and management of disease in many clinical categories, including thyroid function, reproductive endocrinology, cardiology, anaemia, metabolism, oncology and infectious disease. The 48 different tests manufactured by OCD in South Wales utilise a proprietary technology, enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL), to provide the essential sensitivity for this type of testing.
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