The company is primarily involved in contract manufacturing and packaging but has also provided some development and optimisation projects. This section of the business is now being expanded through investments in specialised equipment and personnel.
By making these investments Norwich hopes to equip itself to deal with “any technical service request”. This covers single, specialised services, such as improving quality control processes, up to complete end-to-end assistance.
Although this is a shift away from the traditional core competencies of the company it is confident that it has the capabilities, and there is sufficient demand, to make the venture a success.
Carolyn Gherardi, the newly appointed vice president, technology & development services, commented: "The need for our technology & development services exists in multiple segments of the pharma industry. Our immediate goal is to communicate the full extent of our expanded services to all pharmaceutical companies from big pharma to virtual and specialty pharma companies.
“Those who see the greatest value in what we can now do for them, will be the first in line for our services. We expect demand for outsourcing to continue to grow given the downsizing and consolidation of development and manufacturing capacity currently taking place in our industry."
The service expansion is the first significant shift in Norwich’s operations since it was sold by Outsourcing Services Group (OSG) to private equity firm AFI Partners in 2007.
Norwich’s separation from OSG came six years after the facility it operates from in New York was acquired by the group from Proctor & Gamble.