Pharmaceuticals firm opens £23m addiction research centre

Indivior, a listed pharmaceuticals business, has announced the opening of its research and development centre in Hull following a £23m investment.

The company was established as the Buprenorphine division of Reckitt Benckiser in 1994, before being spun-off into a separate stock listing soon after. Its main product is Suboxone is an addiction-control product. Other products include remedies for opioid addiction, cocaine and opioid analgesic overdose and treatment for alcohol dependence.

The centre at Priory Park represents Indivior’s largest capital investment in R&D and the company said it further advances its “20-year mission to transform addiction from a human crisis to a recognised and treated chronic disease”.

Indivior’s says its vision is that all patients around the world will have access to quality treatment for the chronic relapsing conditions and co-occurring disorders of addiction, including alcohol use disorder and schizophrenia.

While the company said it is not announcing any news jobs today, the centre allows them to “continue investing in science and research to pioneer treatments for patients suffering from addiction and advance treatment innovation”, it said.

“This contained upward trajectory will lead to the creation of skilled jobs in the future as the firm continues to expand and grow.”

Shaun Thaxter, chief executive of Indivior, said: “This new state-of-the-art centre is an investment in our mission to pioneer life-transforming treatments for patients struggling
with addiction. Indivior’s focus on the needs of patients can be traced back decades, to the days before buprenorphine was discovered – right here in Hull – and developed as a treatment for opioid
addiction. Our hope is this centre will help us further our leadership in the development of novel treatment approaches that deliver on the unmet needs of patients suffering from addiction.”

The new centre, which will house over 50 employees, is equipped with cutting-edge scientific technologies including a 400MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometer, and is constructed to
environmental and energy-saving standards, including the installation of a 25KW solar panel farm to increase use of renewable energy.

Attending the opening ceremony in Hull, Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry said: “The Northern Powerhouse is about economic growth and creating jobs. It’s great that this pioneering
work is taking place in Hull and has the potential to deliver life-changing treatments. This £23m investment in a state-of-the-art facility reaffirms the North East as a hub for innovation at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse.”

The new R&D building will be named the Chapleo Building after Dr. Chris Chapleo, one of the founding fathers of Indivior and spearheaded the scientific quest to develop buprenorphine-based treatment.