The Pro-Bio Faraday Partnership has announced it will invest up to £10 million to create closer collaboration between British industry and academic researchers within biotechnology.

The partnership, lead by Chester-based Capenhurst.tech, has the backing of nine universities including UMIST's Department of Chemical Engineering and is one of seven Faraday Partnerships. These are sponsored by the DTI, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council.

Pro-Bio director Dr David Gardner of Capenhurst.tech said, 'Britain is a world leader in biotechnology, but it is not being fully exploited commercially. We want to demolish the barriers separating academia and industry in this area, so companies will be able to gain maximum benefit from new biotechnologies.'

GalxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and DuPont have already pledged industrial support.