Harwell Campus has selected Glencar to develop a new £150 million Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre (MITC) in Oxfordshire.

The MITC development will encompass a research, development and manufacturing facility, providing the UK public with access to cutting-edge mRNA vaccines for a wide range of respiratory diseases, pending regulatory assessment and license.

The new facility will also include a clinical biomarker laboratory -a prefabricated modular laboratory constructed in Northumberland, which will then be installed on the campus.

Construction will begin this year, with the facility expected to become operational in 2025, subject to planning and regulatory approvals. The investment will create hundreds of jobs across Oxfordshire and the UK. It will cement Harwell Campus as a national health tech hub for the pioneering research and development of mRNA and other nucleic acid therapeutics.

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Commenting on the project, Eddie McGillycuddy, CEO, said: "Having successfully delivered The Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC) and established a life science office within the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, we are absolutely delighted to now be delivering this pioneering research and development facility.

"Life science and pharmaceutical projects are complex, controlled environments that require significant design and engineering ability to ensure they are delivered correctly. We have expanded our specialist team within this space to push forward and make these facilities a cornerstone of our continued growth in the coming years.

"We very much look forward to working with the team at Moderna and Merit to develop this important new facility and further expand the thriving health tech cluster at Harwell."