Administrators hopeful of TriRx sale to save historic life science business

Administrators are hopeful of a quick sale of TriRx Speke, a company that traces its roots back to a business that made penicillin during the Second World War.

The loss making business is now under the control of administrators from FTI Consulting after Oliver Wright, Christopher Bennett and Matthew Callaghan of FTI were appointed joint administrators.

Oliver Wright said: “Today marks a challenging day for everyone involved with the company. TriRx Speke Limited operates one of the UK’s leading sites for fermentation-derived products, developing and manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients for the veterinary industry.” 

Wright added that the company’s directors and employees have “worked tirelessly” with stakeholders, including the US parent company TriRx, based in Conneticut, in an effort to resolve the situation and safeguard the future of the business, to continue production while pursuing a sale process.  

“The administration team will focus on working with employees, the key customer, subcontractors and suppliers to continue production over the next few weeks, while pursuing an accelerated sale of the business,” he said.

Callodine Commercial Finance has a registered charge against the company.

The company employs 280 staff and was the location for the launch of the Liverpool City Region’s Life Science Investment Zone status when it was formally announced in July 2023, during a ministerial visit to the Speke plant.

The facility is described as a drug substance facility offering “state-of-the-art biopharmaceutical production; services offered include fermentation, spray drying, coating, pre-mixing and large molecule biologics (mAbs, recombinant proteins).”

From 1942, the factory was operated by the government to manufacture penicillin, one of the first two factories in Europe to do so. After the war Distillers purchased the facility for approximately US$4m.