Society News summary

Society to sell Medicines Testing Laboratory for £550,000 The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is to dispose of its Medicines Testing Laboratory in a cash and share deal worth more than half a million pounds...[more]

Society offers more professional development awards The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is offering further financial awards to support professional development initiatives by pharmacy development groups (PDGs), pharmacy forums and similar local bodies across England and Wales...[more]

Academy launches newsletter The Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Great Britain — formed 18 months ago through the merger of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Pharmaceutical Sciences Group and the UK Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists — has launched a quarterly newsletter as one of a number of planned membership benefits...[more]

Society appoints resource director for interim period of nine months The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has appointed a new director of resources for an interim period of nine months...[more]

Society to sell Medicines Testing Laboratory for £550,000

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is to dispose of its Medicines Testing Laboratory in a cash and share deal worth more than half a million pounds. The Society has signed a contract with Tepnel Life Sciences Plc, but completion of the £550,000 deal depends on Tepnel raising £8m on the Alternative Investment Market for the development of its core strategy, of which the MTL purchase is a major part. The target date for this process is July 16.

Tepnel is a biotechnology company that offers a range of services in the areas of analytical chemistry, microbiological testing and bioanalysis. It main focus, however, is on cost-effective DNA analysis, including automated analytical systems. It also sells DNA purification kits and immunoassay-based and DNA-based food testing kits.

The Society says that the deal is good new for the MTL, “since it will provide funding, property and ambitious synergistic partners to drive the business forward, including a move into appropriate facilities”.

The MTL is based in Edinburgh, next door to the Society’s Scottish Department in York Place. It has a staff of about 40. Since 1990 it has been headed by Dr Alastair Davidson, a pharmacist who has previously worked in the pharmaceutical industry and academia.

The Society set up MTL in 1972, principally to provide an independent analytical service to the Department of Health’s medicines inspectorate in relation to enforcement of the Medicines Act 1968. For nearly 30 years the MTL has been the United Kingdom’s main official facility for the testing of medicines, undertaking analytical testing and investigations at the request of the Medicines Control Agency and other regulatory bodies, as well as for overseas government agencies and international bodies such as the World Health Organization.

In 1994, the MTL began offering analytical and consultancy services to clients on a commercial basis. Services include the chemical, physical and microbiological testing of pharmaceuticals, method development and validation, stability studies, contract analysis, training in analytical techniques and the sale of United States Pharmacopeia chemical reference standards.

The Society has also used the MTL for the analysis of formal samples taken by the Society’s inspectors under the Scottish drug testing scheme and for testing samples on behalf of the Society’s Professional Standards Directorate in connection with its responsibilities for law enforcement on retail sale and supply of medicines.

The MTL was the first independent laboratory to receive third-party accreditation by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service for the chemical, physical and microbiological testing of medicinal products and raw materials.

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Society offers more professional development awards

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is offering further financial awards to support professional development initiatives by pharmacy development groups (PDGs), pharmacy forums and similar local bodies across England and Wales.

Applications are being invited for awards of up to £500 to support development of the infrastructure of the PDG. Awards may be made, for example, to help with administration costs or room hire costs for an initial meeting or to assist with the acquisition of a fax machine or an e-mail address. Groups that have previously received awards are eligible to apply for an award in 2001, but must provide details of how the previous award was spent.

To be eligible, a group must be concerned primarily with developing the profession within the geographical area of a primary care group or trust, a local health group or a health authority. The group’s membership must reflect the variety of pharmacists within the locality.

Application forms and information about eligibility for awards can be obtained from Anne Adams, the Society’s professional development manager (tel 0115 939 6465; e-mail aadams@rpsgb.org.uk). The closing date for applications is July 31.

The Society’s financial support for professional development in Scotland in 2001 is to be used to finance a second conference for the promotion of pharmaceutical input into local health care co-operatives under the direction of the Scottish Department.

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Academy launches newsletter

The Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Great Britain — formed 18 months ago through the merger of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Pharmaceutical Sciences Group and the UK Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists — has launched a quarterly newsletter as one of a number of planned membership benefits.

The 12 pages of the first issue include news from schools of pharmacy, information on existing or proposed focus groups covering specific topic areas, information on the science content of the British Pharmaceutical Conference, details of Royal Pharmaceutical Society science initiatives, and a report of a recent conference on dosage form development.

The newsletter says that other benefits of academy membership will include price reductions on many Pharmaceutical Press publications and discounted fees for various meetings and courses. Services to be offered through a new website will include members-only free access to the online Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology.

The academy says that, because these benefits will require more funding than the Society is able to provide, they will be supported by membership fees and corporate sponsorship. Membership is currently free for members of the Society and £10 for others. For the membership year from April, 2001, to March, 2002, all members will be asked to pay a fee of £50. Postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows will be eligible for a reduced fee of £10 and those whose supervisors are academy members can join at no charge.

Pharmacists who are already members of the academy for the 2001 calendar year will continue to be members until the end of December at no cost. Thereafter, pharmacists will be asked to pay one quarter of the annual fee for the period from January to March, 2002, to maintain membership.

Although remaining closely associated with the Society, the academy is to be incorporated as a separate legal entity. It will continue to work with the Society to achieve its Charter objectives in science and to develop the science components of the British Pharmaceutical Conference. The Society will continue to provide support for the academy and help it to achieve its own objectives.

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Society appoints resource director for interim period of nine months

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has appointed a new director of resources for an interim period of nine months. The appointment follows the departure last month of Denis Argent, who had been resources director since 1987 (PJ, May 26, p709). Mr Hugh Mitchell joins the Society on June 25.

Mr Mitchell is a fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, and has extensive experience in financial and general management. He has already worked with the Society on the Medicines Testing Laboratory disposal project.

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