£10m science and research investment in Harlow
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that a new £10 million national medical research centre is to be opened in Harlow, Essex.
The centre is said to be the first of its kind in the world where researchers will be able to explore the characteristics of disease in order to develop new drugs and treatments for patients.It will be funded by £5 million investments over five years by both the Medical Research Council and the Department of Health’s National Institute for Health Research.
The centre will be on the site of the current London Olympics' anti-doping laboratory. It will also help build on the medical research and development industries at the core of Harlow’s Enterprise Zone and the Anglia Ruskin MedTech Campus, being developed by Chelmsford City Council, Harlow District Council, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and Anglia Ruskin University.
South East LEP chairman, John Spence, said: “This announcement is fantastic news for Harlow and more broadly the South East LEP area. This investment will help create jobs, further help the local and national economies and help make our area synonymous with success and cutting edge medical research.
“It takes forward the work being undertaken at the Enterprise Zone and the South East LEP’s core aim of creating the most enterprising economy in England.”
Leader of Essex County Council, County Councillor Peter Martin added: “The Prime Minister’s announcement of the state-of-the-art medical research facility in Harlow is fantastic news for the whole of Essex.
“This announcement supports the developments underway in the Harlow enterprise zone. Following the Olympic Games, the site can be converted and it will put Essex on the map for yet another specialism.
“Experts will be working in our county to develop treatments which could make a huge difference to patients all over the UK.
• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: Prime Minister David Cameron. Picture: http://www.number10.gov.uk/footer/copyright
