CPI Welcomes Dave Tudor as New Managing Director of Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre

Dr Dave Tudor, previously Head of Manufacturing Strategy for GSK, has been appointed Managing Director of the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre, a unique facility offering transformative solutions in small molecule and fine chemical manufacturing. 

As Managing Director, Dr Tudor will be responsible for delivering the business strategy for the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre; a collaboration between CPI, the University of Strathclyde, GSK and AstraZeneca. The Centre is supported by a £13 million investment from UK Research and Innovation, through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), along with £15 million from Scottish Enterprise and £7 million from both GSK and AstraZeneca. 

With over 27 years of leadership experience, Dr Tudor will promote pre-competitive collaboration at the Centre and help to advance emergent and disruptive technologies. He will also help the Centre to achieve its ultimate goal of lowering the cost of drugs, which will make healthcare more affordable for providers and patients. 

After completing a PhD in Chemistry from Glasgow University, Dr Tudor joined SmithKline Beecham in 1992 and moved to GSK in 1997. He has held various management and leadership positions throughout his 27 years working in the pharmaceutical industry. Since 2011, he has served on the Board of Directors for Chemical Industry Association, the Chemical Growth Partnership, the Glasgow Economic Board and various UK Innovation Centres.

Over the past five years he has engaged with multiple international governments, working on a number of projects that focus on life science strategy. He was appointed as Chair of Life Sciences Scotland in 2016 and successfully updated their economic strategy, resulting in strong growth for the sector. His most recent role as VP, Head of Supply Chain Strategy for GSK, involved representing the company on the Medicines Manufacturing Industrial Partnership. Here, he supported the development of the UK Life Sciences strategy and coordinated GSK’s manufacturing engagement with the UK, Scottish and Singaporean governments. 

Dr Tudor has been involved with the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre since its inception, and will be using his role as Managing Director to investigate how the UK can drive more value from life science research and development. The pharmaceutical industry is facing many challenges, including ageing populations, the soaring cost of drug development, and resource constraints impeding the adoption of emergent technologies. Currently, the translation of advanced technologies to the pharmaceutical environment is inefficient. Therefore, the industry needs to reduce waste by modernising its approach to clinical development and commercial manufacture. 

The Centre aims to address these key challenges by bringing industry, academia and government together to accelerate the translation of technology and provide a better economic return for the sector. It will enable new and disruptive technologies to be proven at scale in a GMP environment. This will allow the rapid adoption of next-generation processes that reduce risk, cut costs and save time. 

Located at the heart of the growing Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District in Renfrewshire, Scotland, the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre aims to attract over £80 million of R&D investment by 2028 and will create 80 high value jobs by 2023. While its premises are under construction, the staff of the Centre will be based in the University of Strathclyde’s Technology and Innovation Centre Zone, the cornerstone of the Glasgow City Innovation District.

The plan for the future is to get more companies involved in the project. CPI is currently engaged in discussions with other major Pharmaceutical, Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisations (CDMOs), equipment and technology to secure further funding partner organisations and allow this unique and exciting initiative to deliver transformational solutions for pharmaceutical clinical and commercial manufacturing.

Dr Dave Tudor said: “I’m excited to begin my role as Managing Director of the Centre and to have the chance to create a transformative strategy for life science in the UK. My aim is to connect the industry and bring partners together to work in a non-competitive way. What really motivates me is the idea that we can avoid waste, reduce costs and make these medicines more accessible and more affordable. Anything that can be done to transform the product and make it cheaper has got to be a good thing.” 

Andy Jones, ISCF Medicines Manufacturing Challenge Director, said: “I’m looking forward to working closely with Dave Tudor and his whole team to drive this crucial phase of turning the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre from plans into reality. The Centre is a vital new facility for the whole of the UK, both in terms of saving more lives and creating even better conditions for Life Sciences companies to thrive and grow in a fiercely competitive global market. It is a testament to the importance of the project that someone of Dave’s experience and standing in the industry has been appointed to this role.”

Nigel Perry, Chief Executive Officer at CPI, said: “I’m extremely proud to welcome Dave Tudor to our team here at CPI. As such a prestigious and experienced member of the industry, I am confident he will help the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre modernise the pharmaceutical industry’s approach to clinical development and commercial manufacture to help make healthcare more affordable.”

Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde, said: “I am delighted to welcome Dave Tudor as Managing Director of the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre. Dave is a hugely-experienced executive in the pharmaceutical industry and I am confident that, under his leadership, the Centre will quickly prove to be a major asset to Scotland. The Centre will provide the physical infrastructure and capabilities for companies to develop and test the disruptive technologies of tomorrow, accelerating their adoption and, ultimately, bringing extremely high-quality, sustainable and cost-effective drugs to market more quickly.”

Linda Hanna, MD of Scottish Economic Development at Scottish Enterprise, said: “I warmly welcome the appointment of Dr Dave Tudor, who brings a wealth of international and industrial experience. Dave has demonstrated strong support for growing the Scottish economy through his leadership of Life Sciences Scotland, as well as in his role as a GlobalScot. I look forward continuing to work with Dave in his new role, helping the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre to be a success and deliver significant economic impact from this important and growing sector.” 

Dr Tudor will perform the role of Managing Director of the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre initially on secondment from GSK, before transferring fully to CPI in 2019.