Member Article

Northumberland R&D firm ends 2017 recruitment drive with raft of scientist hires

Alnwick-headquartered Arcinova, a Contract Research and Development Organisation (CRDO) organisation, is expanding its Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) department with the appointment of 7 new scientists.

The company works across drug substance synthesis, drug product manufacture, CMC, bioanalytical and metabolism services, radiolabelling synthesis and synthesis of toxic/highly potent APIs.

It also provides consultancy services and works in partnership with companies throughout the drug development process.

The new hires include Luke Robinson, Ellie Woodhead and Lucy Carruthers, who have joined the department as Analytical Scientists, Hannah Reed, who has been appointed as a Manufacturing Scientist, and Emily Kelly and Marivel Burden, who have joined as Microbiologists.

Luke Robinson is a recent graduate from Sunderland University, where he studied Biopharmaceutical Science. Luke, from Northumberland, was recently presented with the Agilent prize for Excellence in Pharmaceutical Analysis for achieving the top mark in his final year for Advanced Analytical Technique.

Ellie Woodhead, also from Northumberland, graduated earlier this year from Loughborough University with a degree in Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, while Lucy Carruthers, from Leeds, holds a Chemistry with Biomedical Science degree from Northumbria University, and joins Arcinova from Covance, where she worked as an Analytical Chemist.

Northumberland-born Hannah Reed accepted her position at Arcinova after working as a Radiochemist for Alliance Medical Radio Pharmacy for more than three years. She holds a degree in Microbiology from The University of Manchester.

Emily Kelly, who is originally from Hartlepool, graduated from Leeds Beckett University with a degree in Biomedical Sciences and joins Arcinova from Billingham-based Eurofins, where she worked as a Microbiology Technician.

Marivel Burden, from Guisborough, holds a degree in Applied Biology from Northumbria University and an MSc in Biotechnology from Teesside University. She previously worked for Parker Hannifin, where, in a 10 year period, she held Laboratory Technician, Laboratory Technologist, LSG Validation Scientist and LSG Scientist posts.

Marivel also worked as a Microbiology Quality Control Technician at Stockton QC Laboratory, at the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton on Tees.

Martin Gray, head of CMC at Arcinova, said: “Strengthening our CMC department with talented scientists is a key part of our growth strategy and enables us to serve even more businesses from our facility in Alnwick.

“We’re delighted to welcome our new recruits and look forward to seeing the impact they will make for our customers nationally and internationally.”

Launched in 2015, Arcinova operates from a 15,000m2 facility on a 34-acre site, which has benefited from decades of investment as a key research and development centre for Sanofi and Covance, allowing it to offer a rare range of on-site capabilities as a CRDO.

Ian Shott, managing director of Arcinova, added: “2017 has seen Arcinova make numerous additions to our workforce and we’re delighted to see our CMC department expand through the addition of seven new staff members.

“It’s particularly pleasing to see that through our growth and the increased demand for our services, we are able to offer new opportunities for career development here in North East England.”