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£38m biopharmaceuticals centre to drive healthcare innovation

A £38m National Biologics Industrial Innovation Centre will be established by the Centre for Process Innovation it has been announced.

The Centre will be part of the Government’s life sciences strategy, and will support innovative solutions in the UK healthcare market.

It will be a large open access facility where companies can get assistance in scaling manufacturing processes for biologic medicines such as antibodies and vaccines.

Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts MP, said: “Our investment in the NBIIC as part of the Strategy for UK Life Sciences makes clear the level of our commitment to a sector we see as vital to the UK’s long-term economic prospects. We want the UK to remain a location of choice for investment in an increasingly competitive and globalised health life-sciences sector.

“Life-sciences is one of the most truly international sectors – so if we are to continue to be a world player and compete in the global race we must do everything we can to support it. The new centre sends a clear message to the world that we are creating the best environment to invent and manufacture biologic medicines and continue to be a world leader in life sciences.”

The Centre is aimed at bridging the gap in biologic capability between research and manufacturing. Nigel Perry, Chief Executive Officer at CPI, said: “This is hugely significant for the vitally important Pharmaceutical Industry in the UK. It is also hugely significant for CPI and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and underlines the Government’s commitment to support manufacturing in the UK.”

Dr Chris Dowle, Director of Sustainable Processing at CPI, added: “The National Biologics Industry Innovation Centre (NBIIC) will build upon the UK’s excellent research base with its strong pipeline of new potential biopharmaceutical products to help deliver a leading UK industry in bio-manufacturing. In this rapidly growing global marketplace, innovation in manufacturing will be vital to UK success and this will be a primary focus for the NBIIC.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .