Human Challenge Facility

Infectious diseases undoubtedly pose a significant threat to populations worldwide. The recent experience of COVID-19 served to highlight the urgent need for new strategies to accelerate the development of new treatments and vaccines.

Controlled Human Challenge Models, already a key research strength of LSTM, offer a rapid and cost-effective way of initial assessment of the efficacy or protective effect of novel vaccines and therapeutics.

Our new facility will increase our existing 18-bed outpatient research clinic capacity by 12 additional inpatient beds, meaning that we can apply our human challenge model to more viruses and pathogens which present a threat to humans (e.g. influenza, coronaviruses etc).

The project brings together the biomedical science commercial sector, the NHS and academia to provide a unique cooperation that can build on the region’s rich base of infectious disease research and nationally recognised expertise in patient and public health interventions.

Co-location with one of the largest NHS trusts in the UK and high containment laboratories make this a unique proposition for the critical expansion of first in man clinical trials. When completed, this £8m facility will be one of the largest non-commercial facilities of its kind, supporting the global research agenda for human health.