Health and life sciences is a thriving sector of Liverpool City Region’s economy. Employing over 6,000 people locally and delivering products and services worth in excess of £1.7 billion per annum, it contributes over £300 million in GVA. Here’s our latest round up of the news and developments in the sector, inspiring our students to build their skills for a bright future.
BRITE
BRITE, a cross-sector partnership which includes universities and industry, has announced that it has been awarded close to £5 million by Research England’s University Commercialisation Ecosystem. The funding will contribute to develop essential capacity to grow the regional and national biologics ecosystem.
Dr Becky Jones-Phillips, Director of Enterprise and Innovation at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine – and BRITE lead – says: “Using the world-class research of our local universities and commercial life sciences expertise we already have in the region, we will build capability and competency to help scale-up academic innovation into new biologic products.”
The UK’s first Health and Life Sciences Investment Zone, Liverpool City Region is suited to addressing these challenges. Liverpool is also home to world-leading universities that generate £850 million with their sector-leading scientific research and over 300 Life Sciences businesses that our young people can get involved with as well.
Science Minister Lord Vallance said: “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.”
Read more about BRITE Programme here.
Unilever
Unilever has announced an £80 million investment in a new UK fragrance facility. Its proposal is to build on the doorstep of Unilever’s world-class R&D facilities and factories in Port Sunlight.
Investing in talent recruitment by hiring industry-leading perfumers, Unilever is aiming to work on long-term technological programmes to deliver pioneering fragrance innovations. Its home care, personal care and beauty and wellbeing brands involve names including Dove, TRESemmé and Persil and its plan is to develop these with greater speed and efficiency in a facility equipped with a fragrance research and innovation lab, a compounding facility and evaluation suites.
Read more about Unilever's investment here.
Liverpool’s first International Campus in Bengaluru
On 26 May, the Indian Minister of Education awarded the University of Liverpool permission to open a campus in Bengaluru, capital of India’s Southern Karnataka state. The British High Commissioner to India, Lindy Cameron says: “Young people are at the heart of the UK-India partnership, and education is one of our most powerful tools unlocking opportunities for growth and innovation across both our countries, shaping a shared future.”
The University of Liverpool’s Strategy 2031 has a key focus for global engagement and partnerships, recognised globally for successfully delivering innovative international partnerships. The campus will open for its first intake of undergraduate and postgraduate students in August 2026 in business management, accounting and finance, computer science and biomedical sciences, with a wider range to follow.
The Bengaluru campus will aim to create an environment that is befitting of a Russell Group university. Intensive and industry-driven research will be based on the campus, providing solutions to a range of global and local challenges and needs by building this partnership. Recently, Delhi University was one of the many important partners alongside the All India Institute for Medical Sciences, where they launched an initiative to tackle head and neck cancer.
Read press release here.
Liverpool Health Partners Annual Report
Liverpool Health Partners has shared its 2024/2025 Annual Report, showing how it operates as a strong force for good in the region. With a role to support and amplify the important work that happens in Liverpool, the content of the report highlights the impact that life sciences has had in the city region, which continues to grow and develop.
Eleanor Davies, Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Liverpool Health Partners, says: “It was a delight to collate the information for this year’s Annual Report alongside the communications team, with the document demonstrating several highlights which both Liverpool Health Partners and our partner organisations should be proud of.”
The full report can be read here.