Government commits £5m to new Alderley Park venture

The Government has committed £5m to a project to help speed-up new medicines coming to the market.

Chancellor George Osborne said a new Catapult in Medicines Technologies would be created at Alderley Park in Cheshire, the bio-tech hub on the site of the former AstraZeneca near Alderley Edge.

Visitig RedxPhama, which has a research base at Alderley Park, Osborne said the aim of the catapult is to forge collaboration between  businesses, scientists, clinicians and engineers.

Catapult centres were launched in 2011, bringing together business with researchers with the aim of helping start-ups bring ideas to market that might otherwise struggle because of a lack of funding, expertise or facilities.

Alderley Park has strong links to research organisations, universities and businesses in the area, making it ideally suited to the development of pre-clinical medicines technologies. This will be kick started with £5m worth of funding in 2015-16, the chancellor said.

“To make the most of Britain’s leading expertise in science and innovation we must back ideas at every step of the way. The £5m investment will help put the UK in a world leading position to support every single stage of the life sciences innovation life cycle and is exactly what is needed to develop the next generation of unbeatable British leaders in this area.

“I am particularly pleased to announce that Alderley Park will benefit from this investment as this is another step in putting science and innovation right at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse.”

Redx chief executive Neil Murray said: “This investment is good news for our company and the wider region. Drug development can take between 10 to 12 years, and any technology that cuts down that process and makes it faster and more predictive is to be welcomed.

“For a company like Redx, being able to tap into these capabilities locally, either here or in Liverpool  really is a significant boost.”

Dr Chris Doherty, site director at Manchester Science Partnerships’ Alderley Park campus added: “The Catapult will be targeting innovation and technology to help evaluate new medicines quickly and more effectively. The Government’s initiative and vision is a huge opportunity, not just for the site and the UK medical community, but it’s also a ‘shot in the arm’ for the regional economy.

“The decision demonstrates real confidence in our vision to transform Alderley Park into a thriving community of life science businesses and is also recognition of the expertise of the scientists and infrastructure that Alderley Park offers.”

Macclesfield MP David Rutley said, “I am delighted to hear about this important announcement. The new medicines technologies Catapult is a further vote of confidence in Alderley Park. I wish the new owners of the site, Manchester Sciences Partnerships, and the new Catapult every success in their important work.”