Manchester bids to grow genomics and precision medicine hub with Citylabs 4.0

Manchester’s health innovation campus, Citylabs, is set for further expansion following high as it continues to grow its presence as an international hub for genomics and precision medicine. 

Manchester Science Partnerships (MSP) and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) have submitted plans to develop Citylabs 4.0, a new £35 million development which will grow the existing Citylabs campus by 125,000 sq ft.

The Joint Venture partnership between MSP and MFT, the UK's largest NHS provider Trust, is the first of its kind, with the first phase - Citylabs 1.0 - already home to diagnostics, medtech, digital health and genomics businesses who are driving the future of medicine and healthcare.

Rowena Burns, chair, Manchester Science Partnerships, said: “We’ve seen huge developments and significant growth in the life sciences and digital technology sectors over the last five years, with pioneering solutions being created to tackle some of our most pressing health challenges. We’re keen to harness the opportunities created by the growth in these sectors and our plans for Citylabs 4.0 speak to this ambition.

“At Citylabs we have created a dynamic ecosystem, a place where companies and researchers work side by side, benefiting from being co-located on Europe's largest clinical academic campus." 

Subject to planning approval by Manchester City Council, Citylabs 4.0 will be built at the south of the MFT Oxford Road campus, adjacent to Citylabs 2.0 & 3.0, and provide seven floors of office and lab space where brilliant research will be translated into new healthcare diagnostics and treatments which can then be quickly adopted into Manchester’s health system. 

Businesses at Citylabs have access to clinical and academic collaborators located on the campus, and a programme of business support including advice on funding sources, new markets, and professional services. They’re also surrounded by hospitals and the UK’s largest student population at the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University. 

This campus extension follows the £60 million expansion underway to create Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0. Citylabs 2.0 is due for completion in late 2020 and will be home to diagnostics company Qiagen, who will base their European Hub for Diagnostics Development at the campus. Citylabs 3.0 will begin construction following the completion of Citylabs 2.0.

Professor Neil Hanley, MFT’s director of research and innovation, adde: “We are all rightly proud that the Citylabs approach has brought together NHS, academic and commercial sectors, completely in line with the UK Government’s Life Sciences Industrial Strategy which made this a national priority.

“That we are now driving on with further buildings speaks volumes about our ambition for growth in research and innovation that benefits patient care and the regional economy. I look forward to plans for Citylabs 4.0 being realised.”