The Sterling-Winthrop Research Centre was a research centre in

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border, inland from the North Sea ...

History

It was also known as the Alnwick Research Center. It was part of the Sterling Research Group, owned by

Sterling Drug Sterling Drug was an American based global pharmaceutical company. It was also known as Sterling Winthrop, Inc., after the merger with Winthrop-Stearns Inc. which itself resulted from the merger of Winthrop Chemical Company Inc. and Frederick Ste ...

. It was taken over by Sanofi-Aventis, run by Sanofi R&D. Former research took place at the Winthrop Laboratories site near the current

Fawdon Metro station Fawdon is a Tyne and Wear Metro station, serving the suburbs of Fawdon and Kenton, Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England. It was opened in 1981, adjacent to the level crossing carrying Fawdon Lane across the railway and with staggered p ...

, which became Sanofi, on Edgefield Avenue in

Fawdon Fawdon is an electoral ward of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is also close to the A1 western bypass. The population of the ward is 10,890, reducing to 10,090 at the 2011 Census, 5.7% of the total population ...

; this site made Panadol and Solpadeine. In 1978 the company wanted to open a research site at Dukes House in

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...

, on a site of 38 acres, north of the building. Two sites at

Cramlington Cramlington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland. It is north of Newcastle upon Tyne. The name suggests a probable founding by the Danes or Anglo-Saxons. The population was 28,843 as of 2021 census data from Northumberland County Cou ...

and Alnwick were looked at by

Northumberland County Council Northumberland County Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Northumberland in North East England. Since 2009 it has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, having also ...

. There were protests by a local anti-vivisection group, but sixth formers from the Duke's County Grammar School were at the meeting to support the new research centre, in March 1979. The job situation in Alnwick, at the time, was not prosperous. The company chose the Alnwick site in July 1979. It would cost around £6m. and construction would start by the end of the year. The director of research was Alastair Ross. Construction started on 1 September 1980, being built by Rush & Tompkins, and it would cost £8m.

Alnwick District Alnwick was a local government district of Northumberland, England. Its council was based in the town of Alnwick and the district had a population of 31,029 according to the 2001 census. It was one of the most rural and sparsely populated dist ...

Council contributed around £300,000 to the site, with the associated infrastructure needed. It opened in April 1982, costing £11m, with 35 acres, and 130,000 sq ft of buildings. The second phase would open later in the year, with 200 people.

Operation

The site looked at medical safety and toxicology. Sterling Winthrop in UK had its headquarters at Sterling Winthrop House on St Margaret's Hill, in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...

. In June 1994, Sanofi bought Sterling Winthrop in the UK for £1.1bn from

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

. On Monday 29 August 1994,

SmithKline Beecham GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham, w ...

bought out Sterling Winthrop in the US for £1.9bn

Closure

The site was near a Homebase and Argos. The site was put up for sale by Sanofi-Aventis in 2009.2009 sale
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Structure

It was sited off the A1068 near the junction with the A1, in the south of Alnwick.

References

External links

Sanofi in the UK
{{authority control Alnwick Pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom Pharmaceutical research institutes Sanofi Science and technology in Northumberland Toxicology in the United Kingdom