£200,000 funding boost for Oxford’s Clinical BioManufacturing Facility

The enabling works will see the refurbishment of the facility’s cleanroom and storage facilities, as well as enabling works in support of future expansion.

The further expansion will include the creation of additional clean rooms, providing space to deliver up to 10 clinical grade products (gene therapies, vaccines, biologics) to trial per year. This creates the potential to increase the UK's share of the global vaccine and biologics manufacturing market worth over £735 million.

The funding comes as part of the government’s Getting Building Fund, which aims to help kick-start the UK economy following the emergence of the COVID-19.

OxLEP – working with the University of Oxford – secured £200,000 of funding for CBF through the fund, with the total cost of the project being £250,000.

Prof. Catherine Green, Head of the Clinical BioManufacturing Facility, said: ‘We are very grateful for this investment which will safeguard our facility’s future by a programme of refurbishment, and enabling works for a longer-term programme of expansion. We are committed to ensuring that Oxfordshire remains at the forefront of the UK’s development of innovative medicinal products.’

Nigel Tipple, Chief Executive of OxLEP, said: ‘Following the critical and global role the Oxfordshire life sciences sector has played over the past 18 months following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, this announcement is extremely positive news.’