THE Scottish facilities of pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline are to benefit from more than £100 million of investment despite missing out on the big prize of a new £350m manufacturing plant.
Up to 200 jobs will be created between Montrose and Irvine in the next few years as a result of the plans.
The 45-acre Angus site, which employs 260 people, will be upgraded to manufacture material for respiratory medicines and vaccines.
It is the first time a UK site has been involved in the company's vaccine supply chain and marks a major turnaround since 2007 when GSK considered shutting the plant down.
Andy Ross, site director, said: "The £50m represents a vote of confidence in the Montrose site and team by GSK and further underpins the site's renaissance.
"We expect to increase our headcount by up to 20% over the coming years as a result of this news."
Meanwhile in North Ayrshire, where 330 staff work, capacity for antibiotics is being increased to meet demand for emerging markets.
The company said it would also be spending on green energy and environmentally friendly manufacturing technology in Scotland between now and 2015.
Local contractors and partners in the supply chain are likely to benefit from the fit-out and increased capacity at both sites.
Montrose, Irvine and Barnard Castle in the north of England were on the shortlist for a new build plant – the first new GSK manufacturing facility in the UK for almost 40 years – but it is instead going to Ulverston in Cumbria.
Construction is planned to begin in 2014/15 with the building phase expected to take at least six years.
GSK said it is considering doubling the investment at the site to £700m which would create more jobs in the longer term.
A spokeswoman for GSK said there had been an "extensive" feasibility study to decided which location would be chosen. Ulverston came out of that process with a number of factors in its favour including that it had the physical space available for a new build which is needed to make sure there is no cross-contamination between existing facilities.
The site also has experience of sterile manufacturing and a "vibrant" bio cluster between the universities of Lancaster, Liverpool and Manchester.
It is understood uncertainty over Scottish independence did not play any part in the decision.
CSK chief executive Sir Andrew Witty said the confirmation in the Budget of patent box tax relief, which secures a lower rate of corporation tax on profits from UK-owned intellectual property, had transformed the way the company looked at new investments in the UK.
GSK will also spend £80m to increase capacity at Ware in Hertfordshire and to establish a dermatology manufacturing centre of excellence at Barnard, bringing the number of jobs created across the UK to 1000.
Sir Andrew added: "We are also actively considering other investments in our UK manufacturing network which would create further jobs and reinforce the UK's international competitiveness."
Lena Wilson, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, which awarded GSK's Montrose site a £1.46m grant in December, said: "GSK is a global leader in the pharmaceuticals industry and their expansion in Scotland is an endorsement of the world class skills and capabilities within our life sciences sector."
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