Precision medicine in Northern Ireland has received a £55m shot in the arm thanks to a joint effort from industry and academia.
Economy Minister Conor Murphy launched the Future Medicines Institute (FMI) at Queen’s University on Wednesday. It’s backed by £35m from the NI Executive and £20m from NI companies in diagnostics and therapeutics.
The FMI is aimed at driving innovation and production in precision medicine, with the backing of Diaceutics plc, Fusion Antibodies plc, Randox Laboratories, Almac Group, Sonrai Analytics, Exploristics and ProAxsis.
Precision medicine is a branch of healthcare which tailors treatment and drugs to the specific needs of a patient.
Mr Murphy said: “This £55m investment in the FMI is a landmark step for precision medicine in the north which will strengthen our life and health sciences sector and reinforce the region’s role in global healthcare innovation.
“FMI will foster collaboration across industry, academia, and healthcare to accelerate the development of new drugs and diagnostics, driving growth in our economy.
“It will provide a vital pathway to speed up patient access to personalised treatments, streamline drug development processes, and bring innovative solutions to market at pace.”
The £55m is to be used to fund research and development between companies and universities, and to create a shared lab inside Queen’s.
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Professor Ian Greer, vice chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast, said it was delighted to host the FMI. He said it will “stimulate the creation of a cluster for innovation, talent development, and global partnerships within Northern Ireland’s life and health sciences sector”.
Ryan Keeling, CEO of Diaceutics, said: “The FMI represents a pivotal step forward for precision medicine.
“At Diaceutics, this collaboration provides an opportunity to harness data-driven insights and cutting-edge technology to improve outcomes across the healthcare sector.
“By joining forces with other local companies through FMI, we’re reinforcing Northern Ireland’s role as a leader in precision medicine.”
The FMI is also to have a role in driving job creation through skills development and fostering spin-outs. UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) will manage the delivery of the projects within FMI.
Dame Jessica Corner, executive chair at UKRI and chair of its Strength in Places Fund programme, said: “Funding from the NI Executive for the institute has enabled a very strong project from the initial competition to join the other UKRI Strength in Places Projects and demonstrates how highly the programme is regarded.
“We look forward to supporting the FMI to benefit very quickly from all the experiences and insights we have gained from the programme and all the other projects to deliver real benefits for the Northern Ireland economy and widely for society.”
FMI was launched as Fusion Antibodies announced it would benefit from the approval of a grant to the Northern Ireland Precision Biomarkers and Therapeutics consortium, which it is part of.
The grant provides Fusion with access to around £2m of funding for R&D, up to £5m for capital equipment, around 20 core staff as well as labs and office spaces, and new PhD studentships.