Pharmaceuticals
2018: No.23= - £220m
2017: No.21= - £210m

Profits are up at Andrew and Linda Leaver’s Burton-on-Trent based pharmaceutical company Clinigen. Pre-tax profits for the year to June 30, 2017 climbed to £62.1 million from £48.9 million the year before.

Meanwhile Clinigen continues on the acquisition trail at home and abroad. The company launched in Japan in 2016 with the formation of Clinigen KK to expand the group's presence in Asia. In October Clinigen acquired the International Medical Management Corporation, Japan's largest supplier of unlicensed medicines.

In the UK, Clinigen's acquired Newcastle-based Quantum Pharma for just over £150 million, giving it an additional toehold in continental Europe in the generic licensed drugs market.

The company, which specialises in providing access to unlicensed drugs, is a leader in the lucrative unlicensed medicine supply sector and the clinical trials supply market, and has grown organically and through acquisitions.

Andrew Leaver, a Villa fan who was born in Aston, seen here in 2010 after climbing Kilimanjaro for the charity Scope
Andrew Leaver, a Villa fan who was born in Aston, seen here in 2010 after climbing Kilimanjaro for the charity Scope

In 2016 the company bought US-approved cancer treatment drug Totect, giving it important leverage in the lucrative US market. It has also partnered with US counterpart Cumberland Pharmaceuticals to commercialise its oncology support drug Ethyol, which helps combat side effects from radiation treatment. These acquisitions built on Clinigen's earlier acquisitions of Link Healthcare and Idis.

When Clinigen was floated on the AIM market in September 2012 it was hailed as one of the best stock market launches of the year. Since then sales and profits have soared.

The £135 million flotation meant a windfall for Andrew and Linda Leaver who sold shares worth £37 million. They retained a stake in the group which Andrew Leaver, 54, formed in 2010 along with former chief executive Peter George, bringing together Keats Healthcare, Clinigen GAP and Clinigen SP. The business is worth more than a billion pounds. The family investment arm, Fullbrook, invested in global pharmaceutical company Atlantic Healthcare to fund trials for bowel disease products.

Clinigen ships drugs to more than 130 countries. The company was set up to supply medicines for clinical trials. It quickly developed into a global provider of specialist pharmaceutical products and services.

Now it has outlets in Tokyo and Philadelphia, as well as its headquarters and a distribution centre in Burton. The company has a fast growing customer base of pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology specialists and research organisations.