BIA responds to Government investment of £20 million for coronavirus research

The Government has today announced £20m of investment for coronavirus research, which will support six UK projects.

Steve Bates OBE, Chief Executive of the BioIndustry Association said: “The UK life sciences sector is moving at speed to help the national and international efforts in combating COVID-19. We have been working hard to mobilise manufacturing capability for COVID-19 therapies and vaccines as they develop and support their rapid scale up.”

“Today’s funding announcement shows how government and industry are working together to find solutions to the current pandemic. The UK life sciences sector is also working flat out on innovative emergent ventilator capacity, new ways to support NHS patients at home with digital products and investigating antibody technology for therapeutic use.”

Notes to Editors

1. For more information please contact Jack Fellows, Communications and Media Manager, [email protected] or 07825942934

2. www.biacovid19.org

3. To read the Government’s announcement,please follow this link.

4. The BIA has supported the bid by Dr Sandy Douglas, University of Oxford.

5. The BIA carried out a UK manufacturing capability audit and have already helped form a collaboration between the Oxford Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility with Pall, Fujifilm, Cobra, Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and VMIC to scale up the work being done by the Jenner Institute.

6. Steve Bates’ latest CEO blog, issued on Monday 23 March, explains in more detail the work the BIA has been doing in this area. 

7. Keep up to date on the BIA’s work onTwitter and LinkedIn. 

BIA work on COVID-19

8. The BIA has been asked by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Government to co-ordinate capacity and ideas from our network to support the research, development and scale-up of the life sciences sector response to the pandemic.

9. The BIA has networked the UK medicines manufacturing community and convened a consortium on emerging UK capacity to engage with government, supporting vaccine candidates reaching clinical trials scale and beyond. 

About the BIA 

10. Established over 25 years ago at the infancy of biotechnology, the BioIndustry Association (BIA) is the trade association for innovative life sciences in the UK. Our goal is to secure the UK's position as a global hub and as the best location for innovative research and commercialisation, enabling our world-leading research base to deliver healthcare solutions that can truly make a difference to people's lives.