Sir Allen McClay

Sir Allen McClay, 78, founder of Almac, a fine chemicals contract manufacturing and services firm in Northern Ireland, died of cancer on Jan. 12.

At the time of his death, McClay was hospitalized in Philadelphia. He had been attending the company's quarterly board meeting at its U.S. corporate headquarters in Audubon, Pa., when he became ill in early November 2009.

Recognized as an innovator in building a broad-based services company focused on serving the pharmaceuticals industry, McClay will also be remembered as an entrepreneur and industrialist who launched and nurtured a successful high-tech company near strife-torn Belfast. For his accomplishment, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005.

McClay formed Almac after retiring from his original venture, Galen Holdings, which he launched in 1968. Galen had gone public in 1997 and was purchased by Warner Chilcott. That drug firm turned the company toward pharmaceutical manufacturing, primarily for the U.S. market. McClay, unhappy with the direction his old company was taking, decided to form a new one more in line with his original vision of providing services to drug and biotech firms.

He discovered chemistry early in his career when he apprenticed with the local pharmacist. He managed the pharmacy for two years and then went to work for Glaxo as a sales representative. After meeting people who were developing medicines and vaccines for tuberculosis, he decided to start Galen.

McClay came to view chemistry as a key route to success for Almac and also to the growth of innovative industry in Northern Ireland. In the six years since launching Almac, he saw the company incorporate innovative chemistry-based services with new business divisions such as its diagnostics division.

McClay was a lover of golf and a member of two of the world's most prestigious golf clubs, Royal County Down and Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. He also had an interest in the arts and literature.

McClay is survived by his wife, Heather Topping, whom he married on Nov. 18, 2009.