MP Davison has vowed to work with Glaxo bosses to find a way protect 170 Barnard Castle jobs which are affected by the sale of part of its antibiotics operation.

GlaxoSmithKline today announced it had agreed a deal to its sell its Cephalosporin antibiotics business operation to German company Sandoz for $350m, plus additional milestone payments up to $150 million subject to the terms of the transaction. 

At Barnard Castle the sale will see the Zinnat section, which employs around 170 of the 1,100 staff on the site, close by 2025 as manufacturing transfers to Sandoz’s own network.

Reacting to the news, Bishop Auckland MP Ms Davison said: “Whilst this is a commercial decision for GSK, it is understandable that people working at the Barnard Castle site will have concerns about what this means for them.

“I want to reassure people that the news today does not mean there will any immediate job losses, so people’s livelihoods are protected.

"It’s also important to note that today’s announcement only affects part of the overall Barnard Castle GSK operation, the future of which is secure, with GSK planning to invest in new state of the art manufacturing facilities at the site.

“When the manufacturing of cephalosporins comes to an end in 2025, there may be a crunch point.

“But, as recent events have shown, a lot can happen in four years, and I will work with GSK in the lead up to that to ensure any opportunities to repurpose the cephalosporins manufacturing site are taken to protect those jobs well into the future.”