VMIC, a not for profit organisation, will provide the country’s first bespoke strategic vaccine development and manufacturing capability.
The accelerated programme will aim to see the 7,000 m2 (footprint) state-of-the-art facility opening its doors in 2021, ahead of the original scheduled date in 2022. Ground works began on the site at Harwell in early April and have focused on site clearance, preparing the site for construction and the early order of the steelwork. The basebuild is expected to be ready for early access for fit-out, in late July/early August.
The fast tracking of the programme has been made possible by a collaborative effort between The Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre, Harwell Campus, Vale of the White Horse District Council, UK Research and Innovation, and Glencar Construction, the main contractor, to accelerate the construction of this complex build in order to bring the facility on line early so that it can provide an emergency response capability for the UK.
VMIC will occupy a prominent location on the 700-acre Harwell Campus home to 6,000 people across ~225 organisations [with 30 universities represented onsite]. As a pillar organisation with the Harwell HealthTec Cluster, VMIC will be co-located with the UK’s open access National Laboratories, including the Diamond Light Source and The Rosalind Franklin Institute as well as innovative start-ups/SMEs through to multinationals working in the global and UK Life Sciences sector.
Acknowledging the effort of all involved Angus Horner, Partner and Director Harwell Campus said:
‘The whole Project Team are going above and beyond every day at Harwell, particularly the construction personnel. We thank everyone involved for their strenuous ongoing efforts and off-site support for this supercharged project.’