July 2020

Citylabs 2.0 hits a new milestone as it reaches practical completion.

Manchester’s future health innovation and precision medicine campus is a joint venture between Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) and Manchester Science Partnerships (MSP).

“The development of this new health innovation and precision medicine campus and the practical completion of Citylabs 2.0 helps confirm Manchester as a world leader in this vital industry, creating a raft of highly skilled health science jobs and providing an all important economic boost to the city. Manchester’s future success depends on building on our distinctive strengths of which life sciences is definitely one”.

Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council

The Citylabs campus, developed by Bruntwood SciTech, will form part of a new national hub for precision medicine and data analytical businesses, accelerating innovation and translating brilliant research into new healthcare diagnostics and treatments which can be quickly adopted into Manchester’s health system. Citylabs 2.0 will create and support up to 1,500 jobs, adding almost £150m to Manchester’s economy over the next decade.

The Practical Completion of Citylabs 2.0 represents another step forward for Manchester’s Oxford Road Corridor innovation district. As Europe’s largest clinical academic campus it is home to 50% of Manchester’s life science businesses and is one of the North of England’s most important commercial areas. Global life sciences and diagnostics company QIAGEN employs over 5,100 people across 35 countries and will occupy the whole of Citylabs 2.0 for its Global Centre of Excellence for Precision Medicine.

Tom Renn, managing director of MSP and Bruntwood SciTech – Manchester, said: “The last few months have showcased the importance of the life sciences sector and particularly diagnostics to society, the jobs it creates and its role in driving the UK forward globally. QIAGEN has been at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19 as a leading developer and manufacturer of test kits to help track the virus. Their expansion into Citylabs 2.0 will act as a magnet for complementary businesses – from start-ups to scale-ups and R&D centres of excellence – helping strengthen the ecosystem of the Oxford Road Corridor innovation district”.