Pharma in 800 new jobs boost
AN international pharmaceutical company is set to expand in Manchester, creating hundreds of new jobs.
German-headquartered Qiagen, which already has staff based in the city, will expand into a campus to work on genomics and diagnostics.
Together with a number of other science-based companies the campus is expected to create around 800 skilled jobs and is being developed in partnership with Health Innovation Manchester.
Dr Thomas Theuringer, the director of PR for Qiagen, said: “We are investing in Manchester because we have a very good experience of the skill set available and the people there.
“With an office already in Manchester the city is contributing very much to the success of our business and the growth of personalised healthcare is going to be the future.
“We are developing ways to see whether people are eligible for certain courses of drugs and personalised healthcare and that is why the government wants to invest.
“We are an absolute leader in this field and we have a great knowledge of the sector.”
Qiagen already has around 270 staff based close to Manchester University at Skelton House, Manchester Science Park
It is not yet known where the new campus will be based as negotiations with the government are currently ongoing.
The deal is not expected to complete until the first quarter of 2018.
If agreed, it will involve a partnership between the University of Manchester, the NHS Trust and the UK government.
The company also clarified that its financial commitment would be lower than the hundreds of millions of pounds reported elsewhere, but that they can see why investment is coming to Manchester and the north.
Dr Theuringer added: “The government and other companies see the north as an engaging and important site in life sciences.
“We are very hopeful that the deal will be signed in early 2018.”
The announcement gave PM Theresa May’s vision of a vibrant postBrexit economy a much needed boost.
Business Secretary Greg Clark said: “People don’t make the investments of this scale that are for the long term if they don’t have the confidence that we are building in this country a very attractive base.”