£30m boost for university roles

GOV FUNDING AIMS TO GROW INNOVATIVE NEW BUSINESSES

- By DAN HAYGARTH

MERSEYSIDE will receive millions in government funding to grow innovative new businesses created from within research institutions.

A sum of £30m will be awarded to universities working with industry partners across Merseyside, East Anglia, Northeast England and the Midlands.

Biologics Regional Innovation and Technology Ecosystem (BRITE), based in the Liverpool City Region, will get more than £4m over three years to establish a sustainable life sciences ecosystem focused on developing treatments like vaccines, by addressing gaps in the development of products and materials from living cells or their components, scale-up, and commercialisation.

It will strengthen collaboration between academia, industry, and civic partners to create a connected innovation ecosystem and accelerate the translation of biologics for antimicrobial resistance, infectious diseases, and emerging health challenges.

BRITE is a project made up of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (lead), the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Edge Hill University.