New Liverpool life science centre to lead global fight in antibiotic resistance

The new Liverpool Life Sciences Accelerator, co-locates the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and a raft of relevant SMEs with larger scale industrial collaboration through pre-existing product development partnerships. The 70,000 square foot building will provide state-of-the-art laboratory space and offices.The Chrysalis Fund has committed an £11.5m loan for the development of Accelerator. The fund, which supports commercial regeneration activities across the Liverpool city region, has now invested more than £32m into six commercial development projects.

Situated on Daulby Street, within the grounds of the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, the Accelerator will have five floors. Two floors will be available for commercial laboratories and office facilities for Small & Medium-sized Enterprises involved in developing products that will improve patient care and treatment outcomes. A further two floors will be devoted to LSTM’s Resistance mitigation portfolio, which is playing a leading role in the global fight against the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.

Professor Janet Hemingway CBE, Director of LSTM, said: “LSTM was one of the first institutions in the world to recognise the importance of studying and understanding the phenomenon of drug resistance.

“With a proven track record of industry partnership and ground breaking, lifesaving research, the Accelerator will allow us to further boost Liverpool’s reputation as a world renowned centre of expertise. The collaboration with the Royal and SMEs will benefit global health by taking research and innovation from the lab to where it is needed most and will encourage further investment in Liverpool.

John Tatham, partnerships director at Igloo and fund manager at the Chrysalis Fund, said: “This investment marks an important landmark for the fund. It demonstrates our ability to invest in projects that drive forward the city’s key strategic priorities of creating and retaining high value jobs and delivering economic growth.

“We’re delighted to be able to provide the loan for this development which will further bolster Liverpool’s reputation as a centre for global excellence in life sciences which represents a £1.7bn economy.”

Helen Jackson, director of strategy and transformation at the Trust, said: “The Accelerator will provide a hub for life sciences, enabling clinicians, academics and industry to collaborate in research and innovation to develop their ideas into the very latest life-saving treatments.

“This building is the first stage in a far-reaching development strategy that will define Liverpool’s future economy as a world leader in life sciences and boost regeneration of the Knowledge Quarter area of the city.

“The Accelerator is the first development in the creation of a city centre health campus that will be built on the site of the existing Royal Liverpool University Hospital. This Liverpool Health Campus will consist of 200,000 square metres of space, attracting life sciences, biomedical research companies and health organisations. This will generate 5,000 high value jobs and help the city develop a thriving life science economy.”

Building on site will start in mid-November, with the Life Sciences Accelerator due to open in June 2017.

Notes:

The cost for the development of the Liverpool Life Sciences Accelerator is £24.8m.

The project is being funded through a combination of Trust, LSTM, Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, the Department of Health, the Academic Health Science Network and Chrysalis Fund.

IHP has been selected as design and construction partner, secured through ProCure 21+, a framework agreement with six Principal Supply Chain Partners (PSCPs) and their supply chains, selected by OJEU tender process for capital investment construction schemes.

The Chrysalis Fund

The Chrysalis Fund is backed by the European Investment Bank, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and European Regional Development Fund under the JESSICA (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas) programme.

The fund is managed by the Igloo Consortium, which is made up of Igloo Regeneration Limited, Bilfinger GVA and RBC Capital Markets and operates in partnership with the Liverpool City Region LEP and the local authorities.

The Northwest Urban Investment Fund (NWUIF) is a JESSICA initiative:

The JESSICA initiative has enabled the early draw down of ERDF and match funding into the NWUIF, managed by the European Investment Bank, to invest in urban projects that are in line with the objectives of the ERDF Programme and the Northwest Regional Economic Strategy. It intends to pro-long the life of ERDF funding whilst also extending the range of finance available to urban projects in the Northwest.

The Northwest was the second English region to set up a JESSICA Holding Fund, following a similar agreement between the European Investment Bank and the London Development Agency.

The Home and Communities Agency (HCA) and European Investment Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in early 2009 and a Funding Agreement in November 2009. In December 2009, the HCA, European Investment Bank and European Commission announced the launch of the NWUIF.

The Homes and Communities Agency is the single, national housing and regeneration delivery agency for England, and the Regulator of Social Housing Providers.  Our vision is to:

• Create opportunity for people to live in homes they can afford in places they want to live, by enabling local authorities and communities to deliver the ambition they have for their own areas; and
• Focus on governance, financial viability and value for money as the basis for robust economic regulation that maintains lender confidence and protects the taxpayer.

For more information visit: http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/newsevent or follow us on Twitter.

European Regional Development Fund in the Northwest:

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is making a real difference to people and businesses in the Northwest. With €755 million to invest between 2007 and 2013, ERDF is enhancing the competitiveness of the region’s economy by supporting growth in enterprise and employment. ERDF in the Northwest is managed by the Department for Communities and Local Government. For further information please visit: https://www.gov.uk/browse/business/funding-debt/european-regional-development-funding

The European Investment Bank:

The European Investment Bank is the European Union’s long-term financing institution and, provides long-term finance for capital projects promoting European economic objectives. The EIB made its first loan in the UK in 1973 and since then has lent around €75bn for investment in the UK economy. In the years from 2004 to 2009, the EIB financed investment in the UK totalling some € 23.5bn – GBP 17.5 billion.