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Topics:
Innovation and research and development (R&D)
Higher education
Ministers Economic Vision
A PS11.7million investment to accelerate pharmaceutical innovation and help businesses bring new products to market has been announced by Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald.
iPHARMA
The funding comes from UK Research and Innovations (UKRI) Local Innovation Partnerships Fund (LIPF) and is the first project announced from the PS30million allocation to the Belfast-Derry Innovation Corridor.Queens University Belfast and Ulster University will deliver iPHARMA a new project providing businesses with specialist facilities and expertise to support the development and manufacture of innovative pharmaceutical products.Minister Archibald said: This PS11.7million investment will strengthen our pharmaceutical sector by helping turn innovative ideas into commercially viable products.By giving businesses access to specialist expertise and facilities iPHARMA will help overcome barriers to scale-up accelerate new products towards market and unlock further opportunities for investment and growth.As the first project announced through the Belfast-Derry Innovation Corridors Local Innovation Partnerships Fund allocation it will build on our strengths in life and health sciences boost productivity and support the creation of more good jobs.UKRI Chief Executive Professor Sir Ian Chapman said: This is an important and significant investment in Northern Irelands innovation ecosystem. Working with key partners in each place UKRIs Local Innovation Partnerships Fund is supporting innovation across the UK to advance knowledge improve lives and drive growth by building on local strengths and knowledge. The opportunities iPHARMA will unlock will enable research translation collaborations with industry and drive economic growth.Professor Gavin Andrews Head of the School of Pharmacy at Queens University Belfast and iPHARMA Lead said: Northern Ireland has internationally recognised strengths in pharmaceutical science advanced manufacturing and health innovation. Our ambition must be to translate those strengths more consistently into commercial success: creating more high-value jobs attracting investment growing exports and improving outcomes for patients.iPHARMA will provide specialist facilities expertise and translational support needed to develop scale and manufacture innovative medicines. In doing so it will reduce technical risk shorten routes to market and help close the productivity gap by enabling businesses to capture more value from innovation here in Northern Ireland.This investment is a clear statement of intent. It supports our ambition to build a globally competitive innovation-led life and health sciences sector one that is a driver of sustainable economic growth across Northern Ireland and makes a meaningful contribution to the UKs wider life sciences ambition.Professor Chris McConville Professor of Biomedical Innovation at Ulster University and Deputy Lead for iPHARMA said: iPHARMA brings together complementary expertise across Ulster University and Queens University Belfast to create an integrated pathway for pharmaceutical innovation in Northern Ireland. By combining advanced formulation and manufacturing with digital technologies translational pharmaceutics pharmacology and clinical translation we can help companies de-risk manufacturing and development make better decisions earlier and move promising medicines towards patients more efficiently.Ultimately our ambition is to shorten the journey from promising pharmaceutical innovation to the clinic while building the capability skills and industry partnerships needed to establish Northern Ireland as a leading location for the development of innovative medicines.
Notes to editors:
Photo caption: Pictured (L-R) are Professor Helen McCarthy Chief Scientific and Technology Adviser Professor Liam Maguire Pro Vice-Chancellor Research at Ulster University Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald Professor Sir Ian Greer President and Vice-Chancellor at Queens University Belfast Professor Gavin Andrews Head of the School of Pharmacy at Queens University Belfast and iPHARMA Lead and Professor Chris McConville Professor of Biomedical Innovation at Ulster University and Deputy Lead for iPHARMA.LIPF is a flagship UK government programme delivered through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) investing PS500 million to strengthen innovation economies across the UK. It is a central pillar of the governments commitment to achieve growth in every postcode. It brings together local leaders businesses and research organisations to build on regional strengths to create new jobs drive innovation-led productivity and attract further public and private investment into communities across the UK. The Belfast-Derry Innovation Corridor has been awarded PS30million through UKRIs Local Innovation Partnerships Fund to support the development and scaling of high-potential innovation clusters.The Local Innovation Partnerships Fund is a PS500million UKRI programme designed to strengthen regional innovation economies.iPHARMA is led by a partnership between Queens University Belfast and Ulster University.The project was approved by the local LIPF Innovation Panel comprising representatives from academia industry and government.About UK Research and Innovation(external link opens in a new window / tab)external link opens in a new window / tab (UKRI) - Its mission is to advance knowledge to improve lives and to deliver growth. They are the largest public funder of research and innovation in the UK with an annual budget of around PS9bn. It is composed of seven disciplinary research councils Innovate UK and Research England. For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office.The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The d
