133 pharmaceutical jobs set for Tredegar

The Penn Pharmaceutical Group plans to expand its existing facilities at Tafarnaubach industrial estate, Tredegar, where it already employs 250 people.

The company has already invested in additional capacity, including an off-site storage and distribution facility near Tredegar, and in the extension and refurbishment of its laboratories.

To pave the way for future growth, Penn now intends to undertake a complete redevelopment of its Tredegar base, costing £12.2 million, which will increase capacity and improve efficiency.

The project will be backed by the Assembly through its Single Investment Fund, and Penn chief executive Peter George said support from Cardiff Bay has been "instrumental in Penn's decision to develop its current site and bring the work to Wales."

"It strengthens our commitment to the local community and as a leading Welsh company we will endeavour to payback the Assembly's faith in us by driving sustainable growth and employment," he said.

In the short term, the company will move existing stores to a site at Oakdale to allow the expansion of its clinical trials supplies and manufacturing facilities.

Further redevelopment phases will include the extension of existing buildings, the relocation of the staff restaurant, and the refurbishment of laboratories.

Penn, founded 30 years ago and based at Tredegar since the late 1980s, is a highly specialised pharmaceutical company combining clinical trial and drug development with low volume manufacturing.

The company has achieved very strong growth in recent years, and its customers include many of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies in the UK, Europe and USA.

Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones praised Penn's investment plans.

"Despite the general economic downturn, some key companies in vital sectors are confidently investing in the future, creating precisely the kind of skilled jobs that the Welsh economy needs," he said.