Minister opens Centrum Building at Norwich Research Park

Life Sciences Minister George Freeman has opened  the landmark  £11.5M Centrum building at Norwich Research Park, a leading hub of life science innovation that is undergoing expansion to bring jobs and major investment to the region.

 "The Government's continued investment in Norwich Research Park is helping to create and support a first-class innovation hub in the East of England based on world-leading bioscience. The science community will now be able to share access to this unique and specialist facility that will help to drive growth, foster innovation and support the Norwich, Norfolk and East Anglia life science cluster to create the jobs and businesses of tomorrow, " said the Minister.

Mr Freeman also opened the Norwich Research Park Virtual Technology Centre, where pooled scientific technology platforms from research organisations on the Park will enable ease of access for academics and businesses alike.

During the visit, the Minister heard of plans for a £5M molecular farming facility. It will establish Norwich as a leading international centre for research and development in the use of plants to produce high value compounds. The molecular farming facility is being developed from inventions made at the John Innes Centre by Prof George Lomonossoff and Dr Frank Sainsbury, BBSRC Innovators of the Year in 2012, and will make the technology and campus capability accessible to all, including commercial companies in the pharmaceutical and industrial biotechnology sectors, as well as academics from outside of the Park.

The Centrum building, Virtual Technology Centre and future molecular farming facility are part of a substantial £26M project funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to develop a thriving research and innovation campus, supporting start-up, early-stage companies and attracting inward investment from multinational corporate organisations involved in science and technology.

The long-term public investment in the Park forms part of a strategy to invest in research and innovation campuses across the UK to create thriving innovation environments that maximise economic growth and impact from the UK’s world-leading bioscientists.