Date added: Wednesday 5th January 2011
Bio Products Laboratory has formally transferred to a limited company, Bio
Products Laboratory Limited, ultimately wholly owned by the Department of Health.
The transfer from NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) into Plasma Resources UK (PRUK), a Department of Health entity, was announced in the Arm's Length Body Review published in July 2010. The transfer was completed at midnight on 31st December 2010 and follows a period of staff and union consultation.
The move brings BPL and DCI, who supply plasma to BPL, under the same holding company and Operational Board: PRUK. DCI is a US based company owned by the Department of Health since 2002. This combined operation with one integrated supply chain will allow the business to be more focused and responsive to Bio Products Laboratory Limited customers.
Commenting on the move to limited company status Mark Webster, Chief Executive, Bio Products Laboratory Limited said: "We are pleased to have completed the transfer from NHSBT into PRUK. We have been processing human plasma to produce life saving and enhancing products since the 1950s. We are proud of our history, and what we achieved as part of NHSBT. We look to the future with certainty and clarity, committed to providing a continuous supply of safe, reliable, high quality plasma-derived products, supporting both healthcare professionals and patients every day."
David Pascall CBE has been appointed Chairman of Bio Products Laboratory Limited. He brings many years experience as a business leader together with public sector roles to his new role. Mr Pascall spent over 25 years with BP and has recently retired as a Managing Director of Terra Firma Capital Partners, the European private equity company. During the past two years, he has been a non-executive director of the Royal Free NHS Hospital Trust and in the 1980s worked for Lady Thatcher in the No.10 Policy Unit. He is a long standing Chairman of a Secondary School in the East End and is a trustee of London Pathway (providing medical treatment for London's homeless).
Mr Pascall said of the new status of Bio Products Laboratory Limited: "It is an exciting time to be joining the Board of Bio Products Laboratory Limited as it changes its ownership status and continues to progress towards optimal performance and service to clients. I look forward to working with the Board to deliver its full potential."
Note to Editors
1. The decision to transfer BPL out of NHSBT and into a DH-owned company was announced in July as part of the ALB review announcement.
2. Bio Products Laboratory Limited presently consists of a production facility that takes raw plasma and manufactures blood products for the NHS and a global market.
3. Bio Products Laboratory Limited is currently the largest supplier of intravenous immuno-globulin (IVIG) to the NHS with its market share at about 50 per cent. Privately owned companies supply all other supplies of IVIG bought by the NHS in England and Wales. Bio Products Laboratory Limited also produces and supplies Factor VIII and Albumin products. Factor VIII from Bio Products Laboratory Limited is mainly sold abroad in developing countries.
4. Plasma Resources UK (PRUK), which currently manages Bio Products Laboratory Limited's plasma supplier, DCI Biologicals Inc (DCI), also now manages Bio Products Laboratory Limited to ensure closer integration between the two companies (PRUK and DCI are also DH-owned limited companies).
For more information contact:
Jackie Lawton
Bio Products Laboratory Limited
Contact number: 07881 920408
