The UK's Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) has officially opened its new £38m National Biologics Manufacturing Centre (NBMC) in Darlington, Co. Durham.
The state-of-the-art facility was launched by Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science and Steve Bagshaw, CEO of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies.
The centre will provide open access facilities and expertise to help companies develop, prove and commercialise new processes and technologies for the manufacture of biologics.
The creation of the NBMC was first announced in 2012 as part of the UK strategy for life science, which outlined a vision for the UK to be a global leader in the life science sector. The £38m investment was made by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills through Innovate UK.
Johnson said: 'We want the UK to be the best place in Europe to innovate, which is why we have invested in this new Centre to capitalise on the North East’s expertise in medicines manufacturing and strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in life sciences.
'As part of our successful Catapult network, the Centre will bridge the gap between business and academia and help to turn great ideas into commercial reality.'
The new centre is built around six core themes to help companies of all sizes translate their ideas, research and knowledge into commercial business propositions. With a focus on the development and integration of improved process and analytical technologies; formulation, fill and finish; process development; ‘factory of the future’; training and workforce development. It is equipped to support the sector at every stage in the supply chain.
The video below introduces the NBMC.