Equateq nets £100m deal to supply fish oil for heart treatment

THE Western Isles' economy may be better known for its Harris tweed, wind turbines and secluded beaches.

But now a biotech firm on Lewis is beefing up the islands' science credentials after landing a deal with a US drugs company that, Scotland on Sunday can reveal, could be worth up to 100 million.

Equateq, run by serial life sciences entrepreneur Adam Kelliher, has won a contract to supply concentrated omega-3 fish oils to Nasdaq-listed Amarin for use in a drug to treat heart and lung disease.

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Kelliher was recently named as the buyer of Taransay, the island made famous by the BBC series Castaway in 2000, beating TV presenter Ben Fogle who mounted a rival bid.

Amarin will buy 6m worth of ingredients from Equateq during each of the first three years of the contract, rising to 12.3m in year four of the eight-year deal.

Equateq imports fish oil from Chile and Norway before concentrating it down to make ingredients for the drugs.

Kelliher said: "I don't want to give the exact value for commercial reasons but the contract is worth tens of millions of pounds and probably up to 100m over the life of the deal."

In order to fulfil the contract, Equateq plans to double its workforce to 70 on Lewis, with Kelliher - who travelled the war zones of the world as a foreign correspondent with the BBC - already recruiting more managers for the firm.

"I've never had any trouble recruiting production or research staff for the business," said Kelliher, who is from New Zealand. "The workforce on Lewis has been very loyal."When I'm interviewing people for posts, the first question I ask is about living on Lewis because obviously it's a big lifestyle choice."

Kelliher is seeking 20m of funding to help the firm expand, having started up the business in 2006 with his wife, Cathra, using their own cash.

But he said Equateq was committed to the Outer Hebrides, even though it may eventually need to open other bases in the US and Japan to be closer to its customers.

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Kelliher is looking to enter the Japanese market, which he said is the largest in the world for his products.

He added: "Selling in Japan could also be worth tens of millions of pounds because we can produce our ingredients much more cheaply than our rivals and the Japanese market is crying out for competition."

Cathra Kelliher's late father, David Horrobin, chose the Callanish site on Lewis, which he developed as a research facility for Stirling-based Scotia Pharmaceuticals, which floated in 1993 but fell into administration in 2001.

The site passed through a number of hands before being bought by Equateq in 2006.

Sandy Dobbie, chairman of trade body Chemical Sciences Scotland, said: "This is fantastic news and we are delighted for Equateq, which worked extremely hard to make it through a rigorous selection process and secure this work.

"One of the ways in which Scotland can compete and flourish on the world stage is through international trade, but winning large contracts such as this is not easy. The potential rewards are enormous and we will be watching developments with interest."

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