Vindon Healthcare - news

The Communities and Local Government Committee of MPs were welcomed recently at Vindon by Business Development Director Patrick Jackson and Financial Director, Jon Scopes.




The visit to Vindon was included in the itinerary as part of a recent visit to Rochdale on 12 June 2011. After an introduction and brief history of Vindon, discussions ranged from local employment issues to growth strategies for the Kingsway Business Park development on which Vindon's storage and manufacturing facility is located and transport links for employees.

Vindon's stability storage facility and Cryobank was the final stop on a tour of the borough canvassing views from both residential and business communities in Rochdale.


The Communities and Local Government Committee
The Communities and Local Government Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Current membership
Cliver Betts MP (Labour, Sheffield South-East) (Chair)
Heidi Alexander MP (Labour, Lewisham East)
Bob Blackman MP (Conservative, Harrow East)
Simon Danczuk MP Rochdale (Labour, Rochdale)
Steve Rotheram MP (Labour, Liverpool Walton)
Mike Freer MP (Conservative, Finchley and Golders Green)
Stephen Gilbert MP (Liberal Democrat, St Austell and Newquay)
David Heyes MP (Labour, Ashton under Lyne)
George Hollingbery MP (Conservative, Meon Valley)
James Morris MP (Conservative, Halesowen and Rowley Regis)
Mark Pawsey MP (Conservative, Rugby)

Ilika plc and Vindon Healthcare PLC are pleased to announce the involvement of Altrika Ltd and Vindon Cryobank Ltd in the Oristem® stem cell bank, a significant new medical breakthrough involving the collection and storage of stem cells from adults.

Oristem®’s service has been developed through a partnership between Altrika, Pharmacells Limited and Vindon Scientific Limited. Pharmacells has licensed a new, patented method of harvesting, isolating and storing stem cells derived from an adult’s blood. Vindon is a recognised leader in temperature and humidity controlled storage and has recently built a state of the art storage facility for human tissue and cells which will aid both Altrika and Oristem in this new and exciting field

Altrika is a cell therapeutics company specialising in the fields of wound treatment and skin regeneration. As one of the few commercial organisations with experience of both cell processing and advanced therapies, Altrika’s involvement in this key step of the Oristem programme will ensure that the samples received from clients are handled with the greater care and processed to the level required for future use in treatment.
Continue reading "Altrika and Vindon participate in new Stem Cell..." »

Vindonwestech Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vindon Healthcare plc, opened their brand new pharmaceutical and biological stability storage facilities in Kennesaw GA, on Veteran’s Day, 11 November 2010. The Mayor of Kennesaw, Mark Mathews, performed the official opening ceremony which was attended by invited guests from the pharmaceutical and biopharm industries as well as local dignitaries.

Vindon Scientific is a leading supplier of outsourced stability storage in the UK, as well as a manufacturer of controlled environmental testing chambers. Vindonwestech currently provides products and services to companies in the pharmaceutical, biological, cosmetic and heritage industries throughout the United States. This move will dramatically improve their storage capabilities.

Patrick Jackson, Business Development Director, says of the new facility, “The Townpark Business area is ideal for the pharmaceutical sector. It’s provided us with a modern building and a potential catchment area for all kinds of skills.”

He adds, “Vindonwestech is now looking to the future and we anticipate expanding the work force. We’re grateful for support we’ve received from the local area along the way. We’re keen to progress and we’re now well placed for even more growth. I think our move to these modern new offices in Townpark reflects this ambition.”

Stability storage identifies the effects that certain temperatures and humidities have on the physical properties of products. It helps companies to develop, manufacture and analyze their products. It’s recognized as playing an important part in determining product safety.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester has paid tribute to the newly redeveloped Kingsway Business Park, marked by an official visit on 13th October 2010 to Rochdale, Greater Manchester.



Recognising the important regeneration of this area, Vindon Scientific relocated its headquarters to Kingsway. Vindon operates in several markets, including the healthcare, pharmaceutical, life sciences, food sectors and heritage sector It is a leading supplier of environmental control products and services for the management of temperature, humidity and light, where controlled environment storage is needed.

The Duke of Gloucester formally opened the new premises yesterday. He met Vindon’s directors who gave him a tour of the 29,000 sq ft state-of-the-art facilities that are now fully functional and geared up to support the company's ambitious growth plans for the future. His Royal Highness was shown the specialist products and services that Vindon provides, including stability storage, ultra-low temperature facilities and cryogenic sample storage for stem cells.

His Royal Highness said of his visit: “it was good to see that companies such as Vindon were investing in future technologies.”

Patrick Jackson, Business Development Director at Vindon, concluded: “We were delighted to welcome the Duke of Gloucester to our new home here at Kingsway. To be chosen to represent this area of Rochdale is a great honour. We’re pleased to see continued investment in the Business Park, which will encourage more new ventures to join us.”

Glyn Pittendreigh, Rochdale Development Agency’s Development Director for Kingsway Business Park, said: “It is great to see His Royal Highness at Kingsway. This is one of the most exciting business development sites in the country and having a company like Vindon Scientific at the park goes to show that. The company is a real success story for Rochdale and it is great to see it being recognised on this visit.”

Rochdale Development Agency helps to promote the 420 acre Kingsway Business Park, which has recently welcomed new businesses including, CR Laurence a leading Los Angeles based supplier to the glazing, stone and architectural industries and JD Sports.

28 January 2010 AIM: VDN

Vindon Healthcare plc

(“Vindon” and together with its subsidiaries the “Group”)

Vindon Acquires US based Westech Instruments Inc

Vindon Scientific Limited (“Vindon Scientific”), Vindon’s wholly owned subsidiary, has today acquired the entire issued share capital of Westech Instruments Inc (“Westech Inc”) from its parent company, Westech Instrument Services Ltd.

Westech Inc’s core business was originally the US distribution of equipment for pharmaceutical inhalers. Since 2006, Westech Inc has distributed Vindon’s storage products in the US, steadily building up a customer base across North America. However, the inhaler business has reduced significantly during this period and as a result the distributorship agreement with Vindon Scientific has become the major part of Westech Inc’s operations.

The Group plans to grow the US business substantially, including establishing its own stability storage operation. A new storage facility is scheduled to come into operation in Atlanta in June 2010. This will mirror the business model already successfully deployed in the Group’s Irish operations.

The capital base of Westech Inc is to be increased and the new operation will trade under the Vindon name, which is already established and highly respected throughout the pharmaceutical world.

In the three years to 31 December 2009 the annual sales through Westech Inc as sales agent for Vindon Scientific have increased from £46k to £331k. With the benefit of the new storage facility and backed by the Vindon brand this growth is anticipated to further accelerate. In the six months to 31 December 2009, Westech Inc recorded an (unaudited) pre-tax profit of US$52k and a deficit in net assets, which will reduce to US$139k following the acquisition.

Westech Inc is being acquired for an initial cash consideration of £80k together with deferred consideration of up to £30k and a further amount of up to £70k payable within three years, based on a share of the increase in the value of positive net assets in Westech Inc.

Liam Ferguson, Chairman of Vindon Healthcare , said, “The Board had identified the US as a key market for the Group and planned to scale up its operations in this territory. The acquisition of Westech Inc provides Vindon with an ideal opportunity to rapidly develop its operations in the US market. We inherit a talented sales team and an operating base at significantly less cost than establishing our own business from a standing start. We intend to move quickly to build on the established brand and secure our reputation within the US as the first choice for high quality stability storage services and equipment.”

For further information, please contact:

Liam Ferguson, Vindon Healthcare plc. Tel: 01706 716 710
Daniel Bate, WH Ireland Limited. Tel: 0161 832 2174
Justine James, Hansard Communications. Tel: 020 7245 100 or 07525 324431

Notes to editors
Vindon is a manufacturer and service provider of speciality storage solutions for controlled environmental testing, heritage artefact storage, ultra-low temperature and cryogenic sample storage. These facilities are provided at its state of the art storage facilities in Rochdale, where the equipment is also designed and manufactured to client specification.

Products and services include: Environmental Rooms and Cabinets, Disaster Recovery Management, Outsourced Stability Storage, Photostability Cabinets, Fridges and Freezers, Ovens, Blood Banks, Plasma Freezers, Plant Growth Cabinets, Incubators and Validation, Service and Repair

Vindon Scientific is an acknowledged leader in the field of controlled Environmental Rooms and Chambers.

ROCHDALE-based Vindon Healthcare has agreed to pay up to £180,000 to buy its US sales agent.
The AIM-listed firm's subsidiary Vindon Scientific has bought Westech Instruments, which distributes its medical storage chambers across north America.

Vindon said it plans to grow the US business substantially, including establishing its own storage operation in Atlanta for drugs under development by pharmaceutical companies.

The group said it had paid £80,000 initially with £100,000 deferred for up to three years.
Liam Ferguson, chairman of Vindon, said: “The board had identified the US as a key market for the group and planned to scale up its operations in this territory. The acquisition of Westech provides Vindon with an ideal opportunity to rapidly develop its operations in the US market.

“We inherit a talented sales team and an operating base at significantly less cost than establishing our own business from a standing start.

“We intend to move quickly to build on the established brand and secure our reputation within the US as the first choice for high quality stability storage services and equipment.

Manchester Evening News

Vindon Cryobank exhibited for the first time alongside other members of the pharmaceutical and biotech industries inaugural World Biobanking Summit and exhibition, held in the beautiful and historic city of Edinburgh at the Heriot-Watt University from 23rd - 25th September 2009.

Over the three days of the conference, over two hundred delegates drawn from legal, government, and senior academia from around the world, interacted with exhibiting companies and other scientists at this dual conference.

Key Stem Cell Europe topics under discussion included Therapeutic Advances Using Adult Somatic Stem Cells; and key World Bio-banking Summit topics included Sample Collection, Storage and Automation. Topics were presented by distinguished speakers, such as Professor Paolo Macchiarini (University of Barcelona) and Stephen Minger (Director, Stem Cell Biology Laboratory, King’s College).

Vindon’s presence at this high profile exhibition generated a great deal of interest amongst delegates and exhibitors alike. Our introduction to this market was a resounding success.

Vindon has been granted an Human Tissue Authority License for the storage of tissues and/or cells intended for human application and activity/activities of distribution, import/export of tissues and/or cells intended for human application

The HTA is a watchdog that protects public confidence by licensing and regulating organisations that store and use human tissue for purposes such as research, patient treatment, post-mortem examination, teaching, and public exhibitions.

Vindon Healthcare PLC (AIM: VDN), manufacturer of environmental control products for the pharmaceutical industry, life sciences and food sectors, said the market for its equipment has been less buoyant than previously experienced and it therefore expects the outcome for the year to end-December 2009 to be materially below market expectations.

In its trading statement the group said turnover for the first half was marginally ahead of the year-earlier period. The group remains profitable and well within banking covenants, it added.