A £30million experimental medicine centre – where experts will hope to make breakthroughs against diseases such as cancer – is to open at Guy’s Hospital.
World-leading academics and clinicians will use the advanced therapies centre to develop experimental treatments in the fight against diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
The centre, which will be based on floors ten and fourteen of Guy’s Tower, will give experts access to experimental medicine research facilities and the ability to manufacture drugs.
It will be developed by King’s College London in partnership with the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre – based at Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College – and is expected to open in 2018.
The centre has been made possible by £10,164,789 worth of funding from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund, and £20million from private sector and non-profit organisations.
Professor Sir Robert Lechler, senior vice president and provost (health) of King’s College London and executive director of King’s Health Partners Academic Health Science Centre, said: “Advanced therapies offer enormous promise for patients suffering from severe and incurable conditions.
“This new centre will provide our world-leading scientists with the facilities they need to make breakthroughs in the global fight against a wide range of diseases.”
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, added: “The new advanced therapies centre, along with the facilities and expertise of our NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, will enable our clinical teams and their academic colleagues to lead the search for new and better personalised treatments for patients with conditions such as cancer and diabetes.”
In addition to the UKRPIF funding, the centre also received £20million of support from GSK, Cellectis, the Innovate UK Cell & Gene Therapy Catapult, and the Charité Research Organisation.