An interview with Martin Wing-King, Vice President and General Manager, Site Head at Reading, UK
In this blog, Martin Wing-King, Vice President and General Manager, Site Head at the Reading, UK location of Arcinova, A Quotient Sciences Company, discusses the demand for accelerated pathways to first-in-human (FiH) trials, the team's experience and capabilities offered on-site at Reading. He discusses how recent equipment additions in Reading give greater flexibility for drug product manufacturing across indications and patient populations, including psychedelic drug programmes.
What is driving the demand for accelerated pathways to first-in-human (FiH) trials, and what are some typical challenges faced in early development?
It is well-known that developing a new drug is a long and complex process, sometimes taking between 10 and 15 years. Very few compounds make it to a licensed medicine, and at any point, a new product could be rejected due to safety, effectiveness, or quality.
Considering how the time and costs add up along the way, failure in first-in-human studies (FIH) could mean a significant setback. The enormous time and cost savings are evident if we can help our clients de-risk at this stage. Quotient Sciences has played a pivotal role in helping our customers accelerate into FIH trials, attributed largely to Translational Pharmaceutics®, a platform we have been leveraging for over 16 years. This platform enables us to obtain clinical data more rapidly, leading to a significant reduction in early development time and cost.
Early data can be crucial in determining whether a molecule is worth progressing. It can build confidence in a programme’s potential—or, in a worst‑case scenario, enable a “fail fast” decision, allowing the client to pivot to another programme or return to an earlier formulation or candidate if needed. We know this is true for all customers but especially for small and midsize biotechs that may only have one compound in their pipeline at the present time. Early data is vital to ensure that their clinical studies will generate the insight they need—both to understand what’s working and to make an informed pivot to a more marketable formulation.
Could you share some details about the history and capabilities at the Reading site?
The Reading site was established over 25 years ago as Pharmaterials Ltd. and was acquired in 2017 by Quotient Sciences. More recently, we joined with the Quotient Sciences - Alnwick, UK site to reform Arcinova.
Reading was established with teams that had deep experience in the material science behind APIs. With this foundational understanding of drug substance, we added formulation development and manufacturing capabilities. Our teams have always strived to understand the physical properties of APIs before commencing formulation development and manufacturing—and still do—so we can be successful as we scale drug product manufacturing without having to worry about drug substance issues.
Today, the Reading site offers a wide range of capabilities, including solid oral dose, liquid, and inhalation dosage forms.
Tell us about your role at with the company, and what inspired you to join?
I have been with the Reading, UK site for just over 17 years, including serving as the facility’s site head for the past several years. I was part of the commercial team at the time that Pharmaterials Ltd. was acquired.
Before the acquisition, the legacy Pharmaterials and Quotient Clinical companies would compete in the early development space. I was always curious about the Quotient Sciences Translational Pharmaceutics® platform and the combined CDMO and CRO capabilities at Nottingham. The due diligence during the acquisition showed great synergies between the two companies and the journey that we were about to embark upon.
In my current role as Vice President and General Manager, Site Head, I am accountable for ensuring that we deliver on our targets set for the facility safely, compliantly, and efficiently, and in a financially-responsible way. As one of the company's subject matter experts, I also help ensure that we have the right capabilities to deliver project scopes. Prior to this, I was in the project management department for almost five years and ten years in business development roles.
What changes are being made at Reading to available equipment?
Reading is a center of excellence for drug products and we recently completed the installation and commissioning of an additional Xcelodose model 600s and a 3P Innovation model R1000 robotic capsule filler.
A Fill2Weight capsule filling machine from 3P Innovation will be installed in Q3 2024. This is a versatile robotic capsule-filling machine that can fill powder with challenging properties, such as spray-dried powders and poor-flowing APIs, whilst avoiding powder compaction. The Fill2Weight system fills to a target weight rather than dispenses a fixed volume. This approach automatically compensates for variations in capsule shell weight and powder properties. The machine also uses “recipe cards” where the fill weight and API properties are typed into the machine by the operators and the machine can take over from there.
Having access to a variety of equipment under one roof means that we can develop and manufacture the required product even faster for our customers. These pieces of equipment sit alongside the existing Xcelodose that we already have on-site, and a Harro Höfliger ‐ Modu-C LS machine, which doses powder using a vacuum drum system.
What are some of the featured departments at the Reading site?
The project management team is central to every customer programme at the site, and our Project Managers (PMs) serve as the primary point of contact for clients, representing Arcinova, a Quotient Sciences company. They support customers from the very beginning of a project through to final delivery, coordinating closely with operational teams, finance, business development, and other stakeholders to ensure seamless execution. Kirsty Webster currently leads this function as the Head of Project Management for Quotient Sciences – Reading.
Our development team, led by Mihaela Totolici, consists of scientists who use their expertise in dosage form design to create high-quality, safe, and effective drug delivery systems. Applying technical expertise while prioritising client needs enables the team to collaborate effectively and make significant contributions to developing marketable molecules.
The analytical teams, led by Laura Willis and George Williams, are responsible for the analytical testing of the drug product dosage forms we develop and manufacture to ensure they meet the required specifications. The department utilises advanced instrumentation to perform the required analysis in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.
We’ve expanded our capabilities to include drug substance synthesis and manufacturing, along with complementary services such as bioanalysis and 14C radiolabelled drug substance production at our Alnwick site. Together, these enhancements create a fully integrated offering that strengthens how we support customers across early development.
In the next part of this two-part series, Martin discusses the company’s approach to formulation development, explaining the approach to “simple” as well as “complex” dosage forms, and how the Company is enabling pediatric and rare disease indication needs.