Cheshire & Warrington to become hub for creation of new medicines

Cheshire and Warrington are to become regional hubs for the development of new medicines due to new government investment. 

Funding of £50,000 - provided through UK Research and Innovation’s £236m Strength in Places Fund - will go to the Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) who will use it to create a regional consortium, as well as a full stage big which outlines its plan on transforming the Cheshire and Warrington region.

MDC aims to transform the region’s productivity in complex medicines to strengthen its position as an international powerhouse for the creation of new drugs. Medicines will range from antisense oligonucleotides, antibody-drug conjugates, nanomedicines and others, and will be developed from concept through to commercialisation.

MDC will work alongside Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership (LEC) to provide a programme of research and development innovation, training, knowledge exchange and expert advice.

Cheshire and Warrington is already home to a range of life science facilities and companies, including Alderley Park, AstraZeneca in Macclesfield and Thermo Fisher. Earlier in August, MDC was awarded £15.5 million to develop a new Validation Centre of Excellence at Alderley Park.

Professor Peter Simpson, chief scientific officer of Medicines Discovery Catapult, said: “Our programme will align the extensive and diverse local skills in innovative complex medicines, to maximise impact against the considerable global opportunity in this emerging therapeutic landscape. It provides the road-map to realising the potential for Cheshire & Warrington to become a global player; maximising local economic growth and patient benefit.”

Clare Hayward MBE DL, chair of Cheshire and Warrington LEP, added: “We have a strong track record of medicine discovery in Cheshire and Warrington and a clear ambition to capitalise on our world-class areas of expertise in life sciences to further support our economic recovery.  Working with MDC and other strategic partners we will develop a compelling bid that, if successful, will deliver on the opportunities highlighted in developing our Local Industrial Strategy and propel our position in the area of complex medicines to one of global significance.”