North West receives government funding to tackle infectious diseases

The AMR Centre and a North West consortium has received a funding boost from the government for a project based on developing new treatments and diagnostics for infectious diseases.  

The project is supported by UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Strength in Places Fund (SIPF) – a competitive funding scheme that was launched to support local economic growth via research and innovation.

Through the SIPF, the North West consortium will receive almost £19 million, which will then be matched by a further £95 million from public, private, and philanthropic organisations across a five-year period.

The five-year project hopes to create eight specialist research platforms for infectious diseases therapeutics and to fast-track the discovery, development, evaluation and impact assessment of potential new products and treatments.

The North West consortium is being led the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and includes core partners, the AMR Centre; Evotec; Unilever; University of Liverpool; Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Universities Hospital Trust; and Alderley Park, Bruntwood SciTech.

The consortium’s aim is to establish the North West of England as the national and international centre for translational R&D, providing industry with access to a progressive repository of methodologies and improved models for product development for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of critical infectious diseases.

As part of the funding, The AMR centre will receive a share of £4.55 million over the next five years to progress its lead assets into clinical trials and bring forward pre-clinical projects.

Peter Jackson, executive director of The AMR Centre, said: “This is an important milestone for the AMR Centre and will have a positive ripple effect in the global community focused on antimicrobial resistance. New resistance mechanisms are constantly emerging, putting in jeopardy our ability to treat common infectious diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, sepsis and gonorrhea. This funding will enable us to propel forward our exciting clinical programs and expand our work with other life sciences companies - in particular smaller biotechs - to develop innovative technologies to treat AMR."

Dr Kath Mackay, managing director of Bruntwood SciTech - Alderley Park, added:  “Today’s announcement recognises the economic importance of the life science sector, its role in accelerating economic growth and the world-class research and development facilities we have here at Alderley Park and across the North West. As part of the consortium, and alongside businesses such as Evotec that are also based here at Alderley Park, we’re proud to have played our part in helping to secure this funding. There has never been a greater need for investment in the fight against infectious diseases and with committed funding for the next five years, the AMR Centre is in an even stronger position to continue its charge on antimicrobial resistance. It will now be able to collaborate with organisations across the life science sector, many of which are based at Alderley Park, to develop new treatments and diagnostics in the fight against infectious diseases, and we’re committed to continuing our support of such an important project.”