Serum Institute to invest 240 million pounds in UK

New Delhi, May 04: The Serum Institute of India will invest GBP 240 million in the UK to expand its vaccine business and set up a new sales office creating a large number of jobs, Downing Street has announced as part of plans for a GBP 1 billion India-UK Enhanced Trade Partnership creating around 6,500 jobs in Britain.

The Pune-based vaccine manufacturer is among a list of nearly 20 Indian companies across sectors such as healthcare, biotech and software services to announce significant investment plans in the UK.

It was also revealed that the Serum Institute of India (SII) has started phase one trials in the UK of a nasal vaccine against coronavirus.

"The sales office is expected to generate new business worth over USD 1 billion, GBP 200 million of which will be invested into the UK," Downing Street said on Monday in reference to SII's plans for the UK market.

"Serum's investment will support clinical trials, research and development and possibly manufacturing of vaccines. This will help the UK and the world to defeat the coronavirus pandemic and other deadly diseases. Serum has already started phase one trials in the UK of a one-dose nasal vaccine for coronavirus, in partnership with Codagenix INC," it said.

In the field of healthcare, another Indian investment highlight includes GBP 59 million by biotech firm Global Gene Corp over the next five years.

It will create 110 highly skilled jobs in the UK, mostly based in the R&D centre at Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridge, which is the site of the Human Genome Project.

"I'm very pleased that Global Gene Corp has decided to join the legions of Indian companies investing in the UK, boosting our healthcare sector and driving economic growth," said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a statement.

Sumit Jamuar, Chairman & CEO of Global Gene Corp, said the ambition with the investment is to make an "exponential leap" into the healthcare of the future through genomics - from discovering the next generation of drugs to precision medicine - a task "even more critical" in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The UK is at the forefront of the genomics revolution with her Genome UK strategy. We are delighted to be investing in cutting-edge capabilities at the intersection of genomics and machine learning to achieve our vision," he said.

Invest India CEO Deepak Bagla said in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Ayushmaan Bharat and National Healthcare Mission, "we truly believe that the genomic revolution will have an impact on the lives of billions. Global Gene Corp will make this revolution a reality".

The Serum Institute of India (SII) is the world's largest vaccine maker by volume, and has been at the forefront of producing the lower-cost AstraZeneca coronavirus shot.

SII has also begun phase one trials in the UK of a one-dose nasal vaccine for coronavirus.