Randox reveals new £36m facility in Crumlin will create 90 new jobs

Northern Ireland life sciences group Randox has announced plans to invest £36 million in a new facility at its Crumlin headquarters, creating 90 jobs.

The firm said the move will modernise the manufacture of antibodies used across its full range of diagnostic tests and support further R&D and the capabilities of the local workforce.

The £36m investment in Crumlin is being supported under the first tranche of the government and private investment grants through the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund.

Randox is one of four companies that will share a £17m government funding pot which is supported by additional private investment of £260 million, to back companies investing in life science manufacturing projects that help grow our economy, boost health resilience, deploy innovation, minimise environmental impacts and support levelling up.

The funding will help grow an innovative economy across the UK, supporting more than 500 jobs at companies across the UK, from North Wales to Northern Ireland.

Minister of State for Science, Research & Innovation, George Freeman, said: “The UK’s £94 billion Life Science sector provides over 250,000 high skill jobs across the UK from drug discovery to diagnostics, medtech devices and digital health.

“The industry is being transformed by the pace of change: from AI to genomics, bio manufacturing to smart stents and personalised immunotherapies, technologies are converging to create a new era of advanced digital products.

“That requires new types of advances manufacturing plant which is why we set up the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, which today’s news shows is working: converting £17 million grants to four companies into £260 million industrial investment.”

The £260m represents the investment being made by the four private sector firms themselves.

Alongside Randox - Ipsen, Pharmaron and Touchlight - have announced significant investment plans.

UK Minister of State for Health Will Quince, explained: “This is an important step towards strengthening the UK’s long term manufacturing capability, while supporting the development of innovative technologies and ground breaking medicines.

“The life sciences sector is crucial to the UK’s health resilience. Through government and industry investment, we will continue to drive it forward - creating jobs and cementing our position as a global life sciences superpower.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, added: “The UK is home to Europe’s largest life science sector - it’s a real British success story which includes the first Covid vaccine that saved millions of lives.

"We want to cement Britain’s competitive advantage by backing more innovative projects to develop, manufacture and export those treatments of the future.”