The University of Liverpool is a partner in a new Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) led project that will accelerate the translation of innovative vaccine and drug research into new life-saving medicines, helping prevent disease and boost the regional economy.
BRITE (Biologics Regional Innovation and Technology Ecosystem), a cross-sector partnership comprising universities and industry, has been awarded nearly £5m by Research England’s University Commercialisation Ecosystem fund to further develop essential regional infrastructure for the manufacturing and commercial scale-up of biologics.
Biologics are highly complex medical products derived from living organisms. These include therapies like Herceptin, a targeted treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer. They play a key role in addressing various modern health challenges, including emerging infectious diseases, cancer, and antimicrobial resistance.
The UK is renowned for its biologics expertise, accounting for around 25% of the UK’s pharmaceutical market and valued at £46bn annually. Despite this strength, gaps remain in infrastructure to turn world-class academic discoveries into new medicines, as they require sophisticated manufacturing processes and advanced facilities for the development and scale-up into clinical trials and delivery for patients.
The Liverpool City Region is uniquely positioned to address these challenges, as the UK’s first Health and Life Sciences Investment Zone. It’s home to world-leading universities conducting sector-leading scientific research, inpatient and outpatient clinical trial infrastructure, and over 300 life sciences businesses generating £850m in Gross Value Added (GVA).
BRITE, a partnership between local academic research institutions, including LSTM, the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University, and Edge Hill University, as well as civic partners such as the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, and leading industry players like AstraZeneca and Unilever, seeks to address these gaps, establishing the region as a global leader in biologics innovation and manufacturing.
BRITE will help identify and address barriers to effective commercialisation to address the shortage of local biomanufacturing facilities and build scale-up capability within the Liverpool City Region, ensuring that biologics assets developed here can be commercialised locally. This collaboration will allow the Liverpool City Region to retain the economic benefit of the research generated by its universities, create high-quality jobs, and ultimately advance health outcomes through innovative therapeutics.
Professor Jonathan Ball, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of LSTM, said: “BRITE reflects LSTM’s deep commitment to translating world-class research into real-world impact — creating high-value jobs, and ensuring that pioneering health solutions are developed, manufactured, and delivered from within our region. It marks a significant milestone for LSTM's partnerships within the Liverpool City Region and, as the lead institution, we are proud to help drive a collaborative initiative that will accelerate the development and commercialisation of biologics while strengthening the region’s position as a national and international hub for health and life sciences.”
Science Minister Lord Vallance said: “The UK is home to some of the world’s best universities, and we have deep strengths from life sciences to cutting-edge fields like quantum and engineering biology. But we can and must do more to unlock scientific research’s vast economic potential, and to help our innovators world-leading public sector labs turn brilliant ideas into businesses that attract investment and sustain jobs.
“The funding and guidance we are announcing today will reinforce those efforts – supporting our mission to grow the economy as part of the Plan for Change.”
Professor Neill Liptrott, Director of the Immunocompatibility Group at the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Liverpool, said: "BRITE is a pivotal moment for the Liverpool City Region, reinforcing our capability to innovate locally, retain intellectual assets, and build sustainable economic growth.
"As lead for the University of Liverpool, our work focuses on addressing fundamental biomanufacturing challenges and represents a key opportunity to significantly enhance the development of biotherapeutics. We will systematically investigate critical barriers such as impurity quantification, product stability, and consistency -factors that profoundly influence the safety, efficacy, and regulatory approval pathways of biologic therapies. Resolving these issues is essential not only for advancing scientific understanding but also for ensuring the reliability and accessibility of innovative therapeutic options for patients worldwide.
"By bridging academic research and commercial application, we’re not only ensuring that therapies developed here have global relevance but also securing Liverpool’s future as a hub for therapeutic innovation.”
About BRITE
BRITE is a partnership led by LSTM, and including the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Edge Hill University.
Other key partners involved in BRITE are Astra Zeneca, Unilever, Univercells, STFC Hartree, Pharmaron, TriRX, The Pandemic Institute (TPI), Croda, Health Innovation Northwest Coast (HINWC), Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCR CA), iiCON, LyvaLabs and Seqirus.