£105m healthcare R&D centre in Hull moves closer
A PLANNING application for a £105m R&D facility for RB has been lodged with Hull City Council.
The planned centre at its Dansom Lane site represents the largest single investment in the history of RB, which is better known as Reckitt Benckiser. The development is also being supported by the Regional Growth Fund.
“The Centre for Scientific Excellence is a truly exciting project, which reconfirms the relevance of Hull to our global R&D operations,” said
RB senior vice president for global R&D, Sharon James.
“State-of-the-art R&D facilities are essential to our growth in consumer health and the development of consumer-preferred innovations, including safe and effective over-the-counter products that allow consumers to better manage their own treatment and wellbeing.”
If approved, the centre will house a Good Manufacturing Practise (GMP) healthcare development facility, featuring a number of product development capabilities including analytical and microbiology laboratories plus a stability unit. These will support the creation and testing of cutting-edge innovations focused on meeting consumer’s health needs for leading brands such as Strepsils, Gaviscon and Nurofen.
Ms James added: “It is a key milestone in the creation of what will be a globally-renowned, health-product research centre. We are confident the council will be impressed with our plans and look forward to a positive dialogue with them going forward.”
Work to prepare the site has already got underway and the facility is forecast to be operational in 2018.
