Chancellor Welcomes £50m Boost For Medicines Manufacturing
1st November 2024
A multi-million-pound investment to build a new facility that manufactures lifesaving medicines for the NHS has been confirmed by the Chancellor today.
£50 million investment secured to continue producing and supplying lifesaving medicines to the NHS.
Investment is a boost for manufacturing in Newcastle and supports UK supply chain.
Follows £100bn investment in capital spending announced at Budget to attract private investment and rebuild Britain's infrastructure.
On a visit to the Newcastle, Rachel Reeves will welcome the £50 million deal with Accord - one of the largest suppliers of chemotherapy products in Europe - to build a state-of-the-art medicines manufacturing facility that incorporates the latest automation technology. The investment will create over 50 skilled jobs and safeguard the site's long-term future.
Investment will be a vital part of addressing the growth challenge and Accord’s commitment to the UK is just the kind of partnership investment that will grow our economy, and shows that Britain is open for business.
Backed by government investment, the deal will enable Accord to continue producing and supplying lifesaving medicines for oncology and autoimmune diseases treatments to the NHS alongside health systems and patients across Europe.
The investment will also support efforts to shore up the UK’s supply chain of critical medicines and boost UK health resilience, with the site’s capabilities also expected to be highly valuable in the event of a future pandemic.
The Chancellor welcomed the investment just two days after delivering a Budget to fix the foundations to deliver on the promise of change after a decade and a half of stagnation.
The Budget will help rebuild Britain with over £100 billion capital investment over the next five years to attract private investment in key industries of the future.
As a central part of the Growth Mission, the Budget confirmed the Industrial Strategy will deliver the certainty and stability businesses need to invest in the UK’s growing and high potential sectors.
This includes up to £520m for a new Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund to drive growth and build resilience for future health emergencies. The new Fund is expected to leverage £3.7 billion investment, creating and safeguarding 13,599 high skilled jobs as well as £1.7 billion of R&D spillover benefits.
Visiting Accord Healthcare today, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said, "No one should be in any doubt that it is my number one mission to grow our economy.
"The £100bn capital investment in my Budget this week helps us achieve that by attracting private investment. It’s that partnership model that will grow our economy and restore stability, whilst delivering better jobs and driving prosperity across all corners of the country."
Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said, "Medicines manufacturing is a UK success story. Partnerships between government and industry are crucial in taking groundbreaking new treatments from research labs to treating patients.
"Investments like this will help secure the manufacture of next generation life-saving medicines and support our resilience to future pandemics.
“This joint public-private investment in Accord Healthcare’s site will retain and create highly skilled jobs in Newcastle, ensuring we reap the benefits of the talent in every corner of our country while growing our local and national economies."
Welcoming the announcement Paul Tredwell Executive Vice President of Accord Healthcare, EMENA said, "Accord is delighted to have worked with the government to unlock this £50 million investment to continue supplying affordable, high-quality medicines to the NHS. Today’s announcement is positive news for the medicines manufacturing industry across the UK and signals that government is squarely behind this business sector.
“For us at Accord, it has meant that we have been able to confidently invest in our production facility in Fawdon, Newcastle upon Tyne where we have been able to significantly increase production of a range of innovative, lifesaving medicines for patients across the UK and Europe. This Government investment has allowed us invest further in our people allowing us to grow our presence in the UK, whilst simultaneously playing a significant part in reducing medicine shortages in the UK and shoring-up our ability to respond well in future public health emergencies.”
Today’s news follows £63 billion of private investment committed around the government’s International Investment Summit earlier this month, which saw 38,000 jobs committed to the UK in infrastructure, renewables and life sciences sectors, turbocharging growth and innovation across the country.
This also builds on the life sciences announcements secured including Eli Lilly and Company which is collaborating with government through a memorandum of understanding which will see the pharmaceutical giant intending to commit £279 million to tackle significant health challenges - including obesity.
The Life sciences sector employs 304,000 people across nearly 7,000 companies, 80 per cent of which are SMEs with the sector seeing over £108.1 billion turnover in 2021/22.
This week’s Budget confirmed an additional £22.6 billion for day-to-day spending over two years for the Department of Health and Social care, supporting the NHS to deliver an extra 40,000 elective appointments per week, delivering on one of the Government’s first aims in office to reduce waiting times in the NHS.
