What Upperton Pharma Solutions does

Upperton Pharma Solutions is a Nottingham, UK-based pharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) founded in 1999 by Dr. Richard Johnson. The company operates an integrated single-site model from its 60,000 sqft Trent Gateway facility, providing end-to-end drug development services from pre-clinical feasibility through Phase III clinical supply and commercial manufacturing across oral solid, nasal, pulmonary, and parenteral dosage forms. Its technical differentiators include three proprietary platforms — UpperNose™ (nasal delivery), PulmoCraft™ (pulmonary/DPI delivery), and UpperSolv™ (early formulation screening) — built on more than 20 years of spray drying expertise, plus a purpose-built £7 million sterile fill-finish facility designed to revised EU GMP Annex 1 (2023) standards targeting the documented 12–18 month UK/EU small-scale aseptic capacity bottleneck.

The company is privately held, with significant development capital provided by mid-market private equity firm Inflexion in 2022 — alongside which headcount more than doubled from 40 to 90+ employees and a £20 million commercial-scale equipment investment was deployed at Trent Gateway. Revenue is generated through project-based, multi-year CDMO contracts covering formulation development, analytical services, GMP clinical manufacturing, scale-up, and regulatory affairs, with pricing negotiated per engagement. Its customer base consists of emerging biotech companies and mid-sized pharmaceutical firms, particularly those developing nasal, pulmonary, and bioavailability-enhanced products requiring integrated R&D-to-GMP transitions. The company maintains MHRA GMP approval, Home Office Schedule 1–4 controlled drugs approval, and EU GMP Annex 1 (2023) design compliance, with the March 2026 MHRA licence application for the sterile facility representing the most recent regulatory milestone.

Upperton's go-to-market combines high-touch enterprise sales (under Executive Leadership Team oversight, with a dedicated commercial team led by a Chief Commercial Officer appointed in April 2025) with event-driven demand generation at major industry conferences (CPHI, DCAT, BioSpain, DDL) and content-led thought leadership via whitepapers, webinars, and an insights blog. The company has received multiple industry awards including the 2023 King's Award for Enterprise in International Trade, 2024 and 2025 Pharma Industry Awards UK honours, 2025 CDMO Leadership Awards (Europe and International), and consecutive Sunday Times Best Places to Work recognition (2025, 2026), as well as a #73 ranking in the Sunday Times 100 fastest-growing private UK companies in 2024.

Name

Upperton Pharma Solutions

Legal name

Upperton Limited

Website

https://upperton.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Upperton Pharma Solutions is a Nottingham-based integrated pharmaceutical CDMO offering formulation development, GMP manufacturing, and sterile fill-finish services across oral, nasal, pulmonary, and parenteral dosage forms for emerging biotech and mid-sized pharma clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pharmaceutical CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Services)

NAICS

Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing (325412), Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing (3254)

SIC

Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834)

akta.pro primary industry

Drug Substance–Drug Product Integrated CDMO (HLAGABAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sterile Fill-Finish & Aseptic Manufacturing CDMO (HLAGABAH), Small-Molecule Drug Product (Solid/Oral/Parenteral) CDMO (HLAGABAB), Clinical Trial Material (CTM) Manufacturing & Supply CDMO (HLAGABAK)

Keywords

• Contract pharmaceutical development
• CDMO manufacturing services
• Sterile fill-finish manufacturing
• Nasal pulmonary drug delivery
• Pharmaceutical formulation development

Headquarters

HQ city

Nottingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Contract Development and Manufacturing (CDMO) Services: Upperton generates revenue through long-term contractual partnerships for integrated drug development and manufacturing services spanning formulation development, analytical services, GMP clinical manufacturing, scale-up, and regulatory support. Revenue is project-based, typically structured around specific drug development programs from pre-clinical through Phase III and potentially commercial supply.
2. Clinical Manufacturing Supply: Manufacturing and supply of clinical trial materials (Phase I-III) including tablets, capsules, dry powder inhalers, nasal suspensions, and parenteral products under GMP conditions. Billed per batch/project with pricing dependent on dosage form complexity, batch size, and regulatory requirements.
3. Analytical and QC Services: Dedicated analytical testing services including method development, validation, QC release testing, and stability studies. Provided as part of integrated CDMO programs or as standalone services.
4. Sterile Fill-Finish Manufacturing: Purpose-built sterile manufacturing facility (£7 million investment) offering aseptic fill-finish services for vials and pre-filled syringes (up to 2,000 units per batch), targeting emerging biotech companies addressing the 12-18 month capacity constraint in the UK/EU sterile CDMO market.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Upperton Pharma Solutions is an integrated pharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) providing end-to-end drug development and manufacturing services from a single site in Nottingham, UK. The company offers formulation development, analytical services, GMP clinical manufacturing (Phase I-III), scale-up and technology transfer, sterile fill-finish, and regulatory submission support across oral solid, nasal, pulmonary, and parenteral dosage forms. It serves emerging biotech and mid-sized pharmaceutical companies requiring integrated R&D-to-GMP transitions, leveraging proprietary delivery platforms (UpperNose™, PulmoCraft™, UpperSolv™) and over 20 years of spray drying expertise.

Product overview

Upperton Pharma Solutions is an integrated CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation) offering end-to-end pharmaceutical development and manufacturing services from a single site. The company operates as a unified platform with interconnected services: Formulation Development and UpperSolv™ (early formulation screening) feed into Pharmaceutical Spray Drying and the UpperNose™ (nasal) and PulmoCraft™ (pulmonary) development platforms. These feed into Clinical Manufacturing with capabilities across Oral Solid Dosage Forms, Sterile Fill/Finish, and analytical/QC services. Scale-Up and Tech Transfer, Registration Activities, Regulatory Affairs Support, and Project Management round out the services. All operations are conducted at the Trent Gateway facility in Nottingham, UK, supporting customers from pre-clinical through Phase III and commercial manufacturing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UpperNose™: A unique nasal product development platform for liquid and dry powder formulations supporting local delivery, systemic delivery, and direct nose-to-brain delivery.
• PulmoCraft™
• UpperSolv™
• UpperDry™

Quantifiable outcome

• Rapid product introduction within 4-6 weeks
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• VaxHub / University of Oxford's Pandemic Sciences InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Upperton Pharma Solutions was awarded a VaxHub Sustainable Grant to advance oral vaccine delivery in partnership with the University of Oxford's Pandemic Sciences Institute. The collaboration focuses on developing oral vaccine delivery formulations, leveraging Upperton's spray drying and formulation expertise.
• EU Horizon 2020 Grant ConsortiumminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Upperton's participation in the EU Horizon 2020 Grant consortium in 2014 marked a pivotal milestone. Collaborative efforts aimed at developing nasal and oral HIV vaccines utilizing spray drying technology, underscoring the company's commitment to innovation and collaboration.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights10 records

Direct peers

• Hovione: Portugal-headquartered CDMO with deep expertise in spray drying, particle engineering, and inhalation drug delivery. Hovione is a directly comparable specialized CDMO with overlapping capabilities in the very niche areas (spray drying, nasal, pulmonary) where Upperton has built its proprietary platforms.
• Quotient Sciences: UK-based integrated CDMO offering formulation development, clinical manufacturing, and drug product services across multiple dosage forms. Quotient Sciences and Upperton directly compete for the same emerging biotech and mid-pharma customers needing integrated pre-clinical to clinical supply, with significant overlap in COO Lorna Patrick's prior experience.
• Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services: UK-based sterile fill-finish CDMO specializing in small-batch aseptic manufacturing for clinical trials. Symbiosis directly competes with Upperton's new sterile facility in the same UK small-scale aseptic manufacturing market segment addressing biotech capacity constraints.
• Sterling Pharma Solutions: UK-headquartered CDMO offering API development, formulation, and GMP manufacturing services. Sterling competes in the same UK CDMO market with overlapping capabilities in oral solid dosage and analytical services for biotech and pharma customers.
• Aesica Pharmaceuticals: European CDMO providing formulation development and GMP manufacturing services for oral solid and sterile dosage forms. Aesica (where Upperton's Director of Clinical Manufacturing previously worked) operates in the same UK/EU market segment serving emerging biotech customers.
• Nova Laboratories: UK-based pharmaceutical CDMO offering sterile and non-sterile manufacturing, formulation development, and analytical services. Nova Laboratories competes with Upperton in UK-based CDMO services for clinical supply manufacturing (where Upperton's Director of Clinical Manufacturing Paul Kelsall previously worked).
• Sai Life Sciences: India-headquartered integrated CDMO offering formulation development, API, and drug product manufacturing services. Sai Life Sciences competes with Upperton for global biotech customers seeking integrated CDMO partnerships with mid-tier cost structures.
• Onyx Scientific: UK-based CDMO providing API development, formulation, and GMP manufacturing services. Onyx Scientific operates in the same UK market segment with similar customer targeting of small-to-mid biotech and pharma companies requiring integrated CDMO services.

Broad incumbents

• Recipharm: Large European CDMO offering formulation, manufacturing, and analytical services across oral, sterile, inhalation, and other dosage forms. Recipharm competes for similar biotech and pharma customers but at greater scale and with broader capabilities than Upperton's specialized platform.
• Pharmaron: Global CRO/CDMO offering formulation development, manufacturing, and analytical services across multiple modalities. Pharmaron is a broader incumbent serving similar biotech and pharma customers but with significantly greater scale and global footprint than Upperton.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@UppertonPharmaSolutions
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/upperton
• Xx.com/uppertonltd

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Upperton Pharma Solutions