A "landmark" investment of up to £1billion in the British life sciences sector will turbocharge drug discovery and research into mRNA vaccines, the Science Secretary has announced. German Covid vaccine pioneer BioNTech has committed to a 10-year deal, which will be accompanied by £129 million of Government investment. The cash will be used to launch two major research hubs in London and Cambridge, creating more than 400 jobs.

Writing for the Express, Science Secretary Peter Kyle says the historic investment will pave the way for new medical advances against some of the biggest health killers to “give families more precious time together”.
He adds: “This is something the UK is genuinely good at. Nowhere else has the winning combination of science expertise, top-class universities and cutting-edge businesses in such a small geographic area that we do.”

BioNTech played a key role in ending the Covid pandemic by developing a vaccine alongside Pfizer that was rolled out to millions of people.

It is now building on the lessons learned to create cancer vaccines, and has an existing partnership with the UK which will see up to 10,000 patients receive personalised cancer immunotherapies by 2030.

The fresh investment will be used to open an R&D centre in Cambridge to accelerate work on mRNA vaccines to fight cancer and other diseases.

A second hub in London, based at BioNTech’s planned UK headquarters, will focus on harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to speed up drug discovery.

Mr Kyle said the deal would support vital research to discover and develop new therapies, diagnostics and treatments.

He added: “This investment will propel the growth-driving life sciences sector to new heights, delivering cutting-edge facilities, building careers in the future-facing jobs we want our children to have, and ultimately unlocking progress in medical science that could save lives.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves, said the investment was “testament to confidence in Britain being one of the world’s top investment destinations and a global hub for life sciences”.

Uğur Şahin, chief executive and co-founder of BioNTech, said: “This agreement marks the next chapter of our successful strategic partnership with the UK Government.

“Together, we have already made a meaningful difference in expanding access to investigational personalised cancer therapies for patients.

“Now, we are taking the next step to accelerate and broaden our research and development efforts advancing towards our vision to translate science into survival for patients.”