A new drug manufacturing plant will produce medication to deal with diabetes.

The 10,000 square-metre facility at Aesica opened today after the company invested £30 million in its site at Queenborough, Sheppey.

It has been built for production of solid dose medication to treat one of the world’s most common diseases in adults: Type 2 diabetes.

Commerical production will begin in November.

Aesica will employ 55 technicians at the new building, known as the high-capacity manufacturing facility, and pledged they will be recruited locally and trained on site.

Among those at the opening was Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Kent, Viscount De L’Isle.

Aesica Pharmaceuticals chief executive Dr Robert Hardy said: “The new investment and opening of the high-capacity manufacturing facility marks another key milestone for our company and a further step towards achieving our vision to be the world’s number one supplier to the pharmaceutical industry.

“The formulation of the solid dose product for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes is a perfect example of the type of high-quality and high-healthcare demand drugs that we manufacture for supply to the international market place.”

Aesica will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year.

The drug development and manufacturing company has an international work force of 1,300.