Covid jab firm investing up to £1bn in UK jobs

Plans for two research hubs

- By Hanna Geissler Health Editor

A "LANDMARK" investment of up to £1billion will turbocharge British drug discovery and research into cancer vaccines, Science Secretary Peter Kyle has announced.

German Covid vaccine pioneer BioNTech has committed to a 10-year deal, accompanied by £129million of Government investment.

The cash will be used to launch two major research centres in London and Cambridge, creating more than 400 jobs.

Writing in the Daily Express, Mr Kyle said the historic investment would pave the way for new medical advances against some of the biggest health killers.

He added: "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 Covid by developing a vaccine alongside Pfizer that was rolled out to millions. It is now building on those lessons to create cancer vaccines.

It has an existing partnership with the UK where up to 10,000 patients will receive personalised cancer immunotherapies by 2030.