Terumo announces £33m investment in Scottish medical device factory

Tokyo-based Terumo Corporation has today announced an investment of £33 million in one of its subsidiary companies, Vascutek Limited, located near Glasgow.

The investment has been approved for the major expansion of Vascutek’s headquarters and manufacturing facility at Inchinnan, Renfrewshire to help drive further growth for the global medical device company.

Vascutek produces a wide portfolio of implants with a particular focus on treating patients with aortic disease. These implants have helped to save or improve the lives of over 2 million patients in over 100 countries worldwide. Over 90% of the products made at Inchinnan are exported.

The investment will be used to significantly scale up existing facilities at the site, including two new ‘cleanrooms’ – a carefully controlled manufacturing environment required for the production of the highest quality medical implants.

Other aspects of the investment include equipment for the cleanrooms and a new sterilisation suite. The first phase of the site development is due to start in April 2018 and is scheduled for completion in 2021.

Paul Holbrook, President and CEO of Vascutek, said: “This is an extremely exciting time for the company as we look to secure further growth in the surgical grafts market. The investment from Terumo is testament to the quality, efficiency and excellent customer service delivered consistently by our team at Inchinnan and will allow us to further expand our business globally. The decision to invest in our manufacturing facilities sends a strong signal about the health of our company and our prospects for the future. It is an important milestone in our mission to create innovative products to the highest standard that benefit the lives of patients and their families across the world.”

Established in 1982, Vascutek employs around 800 staff at its Inchinnan base. It applies advanced and innovative technologies to develop its products which include an extensive range of sealed woven and knitted polyester grafts for peripheral, abdominal and cardiothoracic surgery, ePTFE grafts and a custom AAA stent graft system.

In the UK, the company has been granted 8 ‘Queen’s Awards for Enterprise’, with the most recent in 2016 for Innovation following the development of a unique surgical graft, Thoraflex™ Hybrid used in treating thoracic aortic disease and which has been successfully implanted in over 3,000 patients since its launch in 2012.

The new cleanrooms will be used in the manufacture of polyester grafts and Thoraflex™ Hybrid products.

Vascutek is a subsidiary of the Terumo Corporation of Japan, a global medical device company which was founded in 1921 and currently has over 22,000 employees worldwide. It acquired Vascutek in 2002.

The Vascular Graft Division of Terumo is powered by Vascutek and Bolton Medical Inc., which joined Terumo in March 2017. It has applied advanced and innovative technologies to develop a wide portfolio of products which include an extensive range of sealed woven and knitted polyester grafts for peripheral, abdominal and cardiothoracic surgery.