LSTM-led Infection Innovation Consortium (iiCON) launches second phase

The Infection Innovation Consortium iiCON has launched its second phase of activity to accelerate pioneering research and development.

The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine-led consortium – supported by a £6 million grant from UK Research and Innovation’s Local Innovation Partnership Fund – will develop a permanent, globally-facing Liverpool City Region research and development (R&D) hub, with a focus on supporting industry innovation.

Reducing risk and speeding up results

Six new specialist platforms will de-risk and speed up drug and vaccine discovery pathways and support companies working to progress innovative new infectious disease products and therapeutics. These will include:

• early-stage drug discovery;
• advanced organoid modelling through the recently-launched Liverpool Accelerate Laboratory;
• rapid clinical trials;
• nanotherapeutics and long-lasting drug delivery systems;
• antibody humanisation;
• broad-based molecular diagnostics, and sensor AI and machine learning-enabled wearable diagnostic devices.

Professor David Lalloo, Vice Chancellor of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said: “As a world leading specialist research institution LSTM is proud of the impact that iiCON has had over the last five years. The continued investment by UKRI is a testament to the translational nature of the cutting-edge research carried out at LSTM and across the Liverpool City Region.

“This is a clear example of how working across academia, industry, government and funders strengthens collaborations to bring research from bench to bedside and beyond; delivering economic growth, high value jobs and greater health security.”

iiCON was launched in 2020 with an initial £18.6 million investment from UKRI’s Strength in Place Fund and has grown into a £260 million programme, creating more than 770 jobs and accelerating 36 new products to market.

As a central pillar of the LCR Life Sciences Innovation Zone, iiCON has significantly boosted spending on infection R&D in the North West.

The new £6 million UKRI funding has generated £9.25 million of private funding already, with projected private investment of £75 million by 2033.

Professor Janet Hemingway, founding director of iiCON, said: “iiCON leverages the synergy of strategic partnership, enabling us to co-develop, and offer industry collaborators of all sizes access to, the world-leading infection control R&D facilities in the Liverpool City Region.

“This activity will support discovery and development of the drugs, vaccines and diagnostics of the future by closing gaps, driving efficiency and overcoming barriers to market – getting pioneering new treatments and products to patients and communities faster and more safely.

“Under the second phase of our programme, we will focus on six pioneering platforms that support the growth of local companies in one of the region’s recognised Smart Specialisations, acting as a magnet for increased local R&D activity and attracting new companies and major foreign direct investment into the UK.”

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram added: “The Liverpool City Region is the UK’s capital of innovation. We’re putting that knowledge and ambition at the heart of the global fight against infectious diseases, creating the high-value jobs and investment that come with it, and making sure the next generation of life sciences innovation happens here.”

The £20 million Liverpool Accelerate Laboratory, which launched earlier this month, will enable the delivery of LSTM and iiCON’s innovative human organoid infection R&D workstream.

The first of its kind in the UK, the high-security, Category Level 3 laboratory enables cutting-edge automated organoid research, supporting commercial and research collaborators to develop innovative new drugs and vaccines through human organoid technology, helping to phase out animal testing.

Find out more about LSTM and iiCON.