Science Minister Lord Vallance has visited Birmingham Health Innovation Campus (BHIC), a world-leading research hub for innovation at the heart of Birmingham’s health and life sciences district, which is home to PHTA.
During the visit which followed the launch of a £50m Local Innovation Partnership Fund (LIPF), Lord Vallance met with the leaders of PHTA, the University of Birmingham and local MPs to discuss the critical role of Birmingham’s Health & Life Sciences District. The District represents a square mile with a £1bn five-year cycle of new research and development awards, in attracting inward investment and scaling SMEs within the UK.
Among three new projects launched today as part of the LIPF, the University of Birmingham will be leading the WM Clinical Commercial Catalyst, which will make it much easier for pharmaceutical and healthcare industries to develop life-changing new medicines in the West Midlands. This will include the development of a cleanroom facility at PHTA, giving NHS and commercial enterprises access to GMP facilities to manufacture advanced therapies, mRNA vaccines and other medicines.
University of Birmingham leaders highlighted to Lord Vallance the defining contribution of the University, surrounding healthcare partners, industry, Government and charitable funders to grow the region’s capacity, capability and commitment to deliver on the Life Sciences Sector Plan and NHS 10-Year Plan for patients, the public and our UK economy.
Lord Vallance said: “Innovation is fundamental to achieving economic growth, which is why we want to support the development of new tech right across the country, including here in the West Midlands.”
Professor Neil Hanley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Head of the College of Medicine & Health at the University of Birmingham and Executive Director of Birmingham Health Partners said: “We are delighted to welcome Lord Vallance to see the Birmingham Health Innovation Campus and see how Birmingham is ideally equipped to help the Government meet its objectives to grow the United Kingdom’s life science sector.
“Our world-class hospitals and universities work side-by-side, our experts deliver billions of pounds of research, and we have state-of-the-art infrastructure ready to support world-leading research, development and innovation.”
Professor Rachel O’Reilly, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Birmingham said: “At the University of Birmingham, we already have some of the world’s finest researchers, clinicians and infrastructure here in the region to help drive progress against major healthcare challenges. The announcement of £50m of Local Innovation Partnership Funding underscores the West Midlands is arguably the best place in the world to accelerate this progress with a diverse population of five million people.”
In addition, local MPs had an opportunity to learn about the PHTA, touring the facilities including the space for commercial cleanrooms part-funded by LIPF. The tour also included the medtech Makerspace, giving MPs a first-hand look at how the facility’s prototyping and 3D-printing capabilities – as well as design support service and technical expertise – are ready to help entrepreneurs and spinouts to develop next-generation devices.
Here’s what they had to say…
The visit follows several Ministerial visits to the Birmingham Health Innovation Campus and PHTA in 2025/26, following Baron Stockwood’s tour and Baroness Smith’s visit in recognition of Birmingham’s health and life sciences district as a focal point for sector innovation.
About the Catalyst
With this new funding, the WM Clinical Commercial Catalyst will provide a single, simple point of access for health and life science companies to access world-leading strengths in:
- Clinical trials units
- Advanced therapies
- Secure health data environment
- NHS genomics
- Implementation and regulation science
The University of Birmingham will lead a collaborative effort with local universities, the West Midlands Combined Authority and West Midlands Growth Company, and private industry.
The resulting project will create a data-backed platform making the region a globally competitive destination for industry. LIPF will also support the completion of facilities to make advanced medicines in Birmingham; and create a growth fund that will help to scale up promising small and medium enterprises (SMEs) developing health technologies and treatments.
