Christie receives £20m for research as part of wider national deal

Christie's new patient treatment centre

The Manchester-based Christie NHS Foundation Trust has received funding towards improving treatment for cancer sufferers.

Healthcare company Roche has given £30m towards treatments, including £20m of funding over three years for a precision cancer research partnership with the Christie, situated in Withington and one of the largest cancer treatment centres of its type in Europe.

This will use cutting-edge genomic technology and big data to accelerate the next generation of digital clinical trials for rare cancers, making the UK a leading global hub for rare cancer trials, potentially benefiting nearly 5,000 patients annually.

The announcement was part of the latest life sciences sector deal involving £1.3bn of industry/government funding.

Tens of thousands of lives could be saved by pioneering research to detect deadly diseases before symptoms even appear, thanks to the new collaboration between the Government and the life sciences industry.

It has also been announced that global biopharmaceutical company UCB is investing £1bn in research and development, including in a new state-of-the-art facility, continuing the UK’s reputation as a world-leading base for global life sciences research and industry.

The programme, backed by up to £79m of Government funding, will study five million healthy people to develop new diagnostic tests using AI and is part of the Government’s Life Science’s Sector Deal 2, announced today by businesses secretary Greg Clark and health secretary Matt Hancock.

The deal brings together 10 companies and is backed by a wide range of organisations from across the sector.

It ensures the UK remains in pole position in the treatments of today, while creating the industries and treatments of the future such as genomics and AI-powered diagnosis.

Business secretary Greg Clark said: “From the first vaccine to the discovery of DNA, the UK has always been at the forefront of medical endeavour and healthcare innovations.

“That is why we are building on our unique strengths by placing life sciences at the centre of our modern industrial strategy, backed by the biggest increase in public research and development investment in UK history.”

Health secretary Matt Hancock said: “I want the UK to have the most advanced health and care system on the planet.

“Technology and artificial intelligence have the potential to revolutionise healthcare by unlocking the next generation of treatments, diagnosing diseases before symptoms appear and helping patients take greater control of their own health.”

Jean-Christophe Tellier, chief executive at UCB, added: “At UCB we are proud of our heritage in the UK and I am very pleased to announce our planned investment to support the construction of a major R&D hub in the UK, which will enable us to build upon our numerous active collaborations with UK universities, biotechs and medical research charities, and continue our successful track record of bringing innovative medicines discovered in the UK to patients globally.”

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