For the past 18 months, associate at Muckle LLP, Catherine Lamb, has lent her legal expertise to Prudhoe-based SCM Pharma in the form of a secondment so that she can support the company’s business development team throughout commercial contract negotiations in order to allow SCM Pharma to grow the business. During this time, Catherine has also continued to support her clients at Muckle in advising on commercial contracts, intellectual property and information law issues.

 

Catherine said: “I have been working with SCM Pharma for over three years and have a real in depth knowledge of the business and the industry. When the opportunity came to work more closely with the client as part of a secondment, I leapt at the chance.

 

“Muckle LLP has responded positively to the current economic climate by finding new and effective ways in working for the benefit of its clients. This secondment has enabled me to pass on experience and knowledge to SCM Pharma’s commercial team and it’s a fantastic way to be more hands on.

 

SCM Pharma has just completed its first year as an independent company, following its de-merger from The Specials Laboratory, which was subsequently sold for £20.1m last year by owners Fiona Cruickshank and Brian Doherty. Whilst on secondment, Catherine also provided support to the corporate finance team at Muckle which was dealing with the de-merger by ensuring that SCM Pharma's important client contracts were transferred to the new business.

 

During her time with SCM Pharma, Catherine has drafted and negotiated a wide range of product and process development agreements and clinical trial and commercial manufacturing contracts. She has also worked to formalise SCM Pharma's arrangements with suppliers and consultants to protect the organisation's interests.

 

Shirley Dann, managing director of SCM Pharma, said: “Catherine’s experience and knowledge of our business has been invaluable. She has been able to help us identify potential issues at a much earlier stage and the fact that she is working here with us on site has brought us undoubted additional benefits and improved efficiency.

 

“We are a fast-growing business with ambitious plans for expansion in new and existing markets and it’s safe to say that Catherine will be heavily involved in innovation.”

 

SCM Pharma is a leader in the high-tech field of making pharmaceuticals for clinical trials . It has also recently broken into the commercial supply market and secured its first overseas customers. The ambitious business currently employs around 45 members of staff and has a turnover of £2.5m. It aims to grow the team further and double its turnover in 2010. For more information, visit www.scm-pharma.com