A new multimillion investment is to drive forward
development of The London Cancer Hub – boosting efforts to turn
it into the world’s leading life-science campus focused on
overcoming cancer.
The London Borough of Sutton and The Institute of Cancer
Research, London, have together secured £8.4 million in funding
to prepare land for development and put in place the
infrastructure required for the first wave of commercial
life-science buildings.
The funding comes from the Strategic Investment Pot, which
is administered by the City of London on behalf of all London
Boroughs to support projects that will help promote future
economic growth.
The London Cancer Hub will be a global centre for cancer
innovation – a vibrant community of scientists, doctors and
innovative companies, which will deliver major benefits for
cancer patients and the UK economy. The project will create
around 13,000 jobs – around 7,000 in life sciences and supporting
activities, and 6,200 in the site’s construction.
It will further build the ecosystem of research, treatment,
training and enterprise in Sutton.
It will also increase the number of new drugs The Institute
of Cancer Research (ICR) can discover, and raise the chances of
each new drug being successfully developed for patients.
The project is jointly led by the ICR and the London
Borough of Sutton – which has already invested more than £30
million to acquire 4.8 hectares of land on the site, to
accommodate up to 100,000 square metres of new commercial and
life-science facilities.
The new funding award represents an important step in the
development of the project. It will be used to put in place the
infrastructure requirements for initial buildings including a
flagship Knowledge Centre, hosting labs, offices, business
engagement activities, and collaboration and events space.
The London Cancer Hub is already home to the Sutton sites
of the ICR and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust – which
together are ranked as one of the world’s top four centres for
cancer research and treatment.
The Knowledge Centre will form one of the first new
developments on The London Cancer Hub site, along with the ICR’s
£75m Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery – which is currently under
construction – The Royal Marsden’s planned £70m Oak Cancer
Centre, and the completed Maggie’s Cancer Centre and Harris
Federation secondary school.
The Knowledge Centre will host labs, offices, collaboration
and events space – and bring together academic researchers,
clinicians, technology transfer specialists and innovative
companies in one shared space to create a vibrant melting pot of
ideas that will accelerate progress in cancer research and
treatment.
Its development, which alone will create around 8,360
square metres of commercial space, will be a key milestone in the
project.
Councillor , Leader of Sutton Council,
said:
“We are delighted to secure this funding which will help
support our ambitious plans for making Sutton home to one of the
world’s leading cancer research and treatment hubs.
“The Knowledge Centre will make an important contribution
to supporting effective collaboration between research, treatment
and technology at The London Cancer Hub. Additionally, it will
help to create thousands of new jobs in our borough”.
Professor Paul Workman, Chief Executive of The
Institute of Cancer Research, London, said:
“We're extremely pleased to receive this important boost to
our plans for The London Cancer Hub. The new funding will
catalyse development and underpin the creation of a flagship
Knowledge Centre that will further enhance our already excellent
collaborations with industry partners.
“This new investment represents a big step forward for our
plans to create the world’s leading cancer-focused life-science
district, and will help to accelerate our research discoveries
and their development for patients.”
Find out more about The London Cancer Hub
at LondonCancerHub.org
