Government funds to grow UK life sciences workforce and upgrade science facility 13 Sep 2023

As part of its £650m ‘Life Sci for Growth’ scheme to boost the life sciences sector and the wider economy, the government will establish a Medicines Manufacturing Skills Centre of Excellence with a dedicated £5.5m fund.

The centre will focus on building a skilled workforce and retaining the best international science and technology experts, helping to ensure the UK can respond to future health emergencies.

Science, Innovation and Technology minister George Freeman, said, “We already have a formidable skills base and, as home to four of the world’s top 10 universities, the infrastructure to keep growing it. The Medicines Manufacturing Skills Centre of Excellence will help ensure that we add to the more than 280,000 high-skilled jobs the life sciences sector already delivers right across the UK.”

Innovate UK will lead a competition to allocate funding, which will open on 26 September 2023.

Meanwhile, a £500m investment has been announced into the UK’s Diamond Light Source science facility in Oxfordshire, which has helped in the development of new treatments for COVID-19, HIV, malaria and cancer. The money, from the government and Wellcome Trust, will be used to upgrade the site with a fourth-generation synchrotron – a super-powerful microscope.

For support to take your innovative product from the lab to product launch and beyond, contact PMC via hello@pharmamedic.co or T: +44 (0) 208 168 1668.