Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has issued a £1.5million tender for a new life sciences warehouse on the Isle of Lewis.
The regional development agency issued a notice this week for a contract to build a warehouse, to complement a factory it already owns at Breasclete, near Callanish.
The property is leased to BASF, an international chemical company that supplies to the “life sciences” market, supplying among other products long chain lipids for foods and diet supplements.
Due to an international demand for the chemical compounds produced at BASF the company is looking to expand its business, including the creation of new jobs.
The company, that currently employs 80 people, already works out of a factory building owned by HIE.
International expansion
Joanna Peteranna, area manager for the Outer Hebrides team at Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), said: “We have a tender out just now for a contract to build a new warehouse at life science business, BASF in Breasclete, Isle of Lewis.
“The company occupies a factory onsite, which is owned by HIE, and currently employs around 80 people.
“As it has been expanding internationally, the new warehouse will enable much needed storage capacity to support its growing development plans.
“The products, such as highly purified omega-3 rich fatty acids are used in pharmaceutical and dietary supplements, most of which are exported around the world.
“As well as securing existing jobs, a number of new high-quality jobs are expected to be created by our investment.
“We’ve supported the company’s growth over several years are we are delighted to have played a key role in enabling this latest investment to strengthen the business further.”
What does BASF manufacture?
From its website, BASF Pharma (Callanish) Limited says it is “a global leader in manufacturing highly-concentrated omega-3 fatty acids, for pharmaceutical, clinical nutrition and general nutritional applications.
“We provide all the key fatty acids of omega-3 up to 99% purity, including EPA, DHA and GLA to name a few.
“Our cGMP facility on the Isle of Lewis, off the north west coast of Scotland, has been operating for more than 20 years as a dedicated lipid development plant, and can deliver commercial quantities of whatever form a customer requires: free fatty acids, ethyl esters, enriched, or reconstituted triglycerides.
“Our flexible purification methods can be applied to fatty acids from all main sources: marine, botanical and algal.
“Researchers and pharmaceutical companies use our super-pure lipids to develop active pharmaceutical ingredients.”
Previously, the Press & Journal reported on trials for fungicide treatments being manufactured by BASF.
