Novo Nordisk’s £115m investment in Oxford boosts UK as ‘world-leader in science and research’

Global healthcare company Novo Nordisk is set to invest more than £100m in Oxford, creating 100 news jobs in diabetic drug discovery in a new research centre.

Laboratory facilities are being created in a new state-of-the-art Oxford University building, which has received £12m of government funding.

Two floors of the building will be occupied by Novo Nordisk and two floors by startup companies created from ongoing Oxford University research.

Novo Nordisk’s research aims to discover new ways of treating type 2 diabetes, one of the world’s biggest public health issues.

David Gauke, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, welcomed the £115m investment into the city.

The Chief Secretary hosted a roundtable with senior representatives of Oxford technology companies, covering sectors including autonomous vehicles, biotechnology and reforestation.

They discussed government support, including the Industrial Strategy, as well as opportunities and challenges for the future.

David Gauke, chief secretary to the Treasury, said: “I welcome Novo Nordisk’s investment at Oxford University, which is a vote of confidence in the UK’s position as a world-leader in science and research.

“A thriving science and technology sector is key to supporting economic growth, and the government has committed to support further research and innovation in all sectors with an additional £4.7bn R&D spending by 2020-21.

“We are also listening to our industries about their challenges and ambitions. That’s why I sat down today with representatives from some of Britain’s outstanding technology companies based in Oxford.”

The UK’s activities in science, research and innovation are a major focus of the government’s industrial strategy.

The government has announced a range of support for science and technology, including an additional £4.7bn by 2020-21 of R&D spending – the largest increase by any government since 1979.

The business leaders who attended the meeting were Ryan Cawood, CEO Oxford Genetics; Dr Gordon Sanghera, CEO Nanopore Technologies; Mike Clary, CEO Bodle Technologies; Eliot Forster, CEO Immunocore; Professor Andrew Harrison, CEO Diamond Light Source and Dr Graeme Smith, CEO Oxbotica.