Overview

• The national biofoundry will be hosted at CPI’s RNA Centre of Excellence in Darlington to help researchers and companies translate RNA innovations into market-ready products.
• Ministers say RNA approaches could benefit patients with cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious illnesses and dementia by enabling precise, rapidly designed treatments.
• The site is intended to pivot to vaccine production during future outbreaks, bolstering the UK’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness.
• Officials describe the project as an early delivery of the Life Sciences Sector Plan, alongside goals such as cutting clinical trial setup times to under 150 days and deploying the NHS Innovator Passport.
• The initiative aligns with partnerships including BioNTech’s plan to reach up to 10,000 UK patients with personalised cancer immunotherapies by 2030 and complements investments like Moderna’s Harwell centre, with support from Wellcome Leap and CEPI.