The two-year programme will use virtual reality technology to teach essential skills

A £4.5m initiative has been launched to address the growing skills shortage in the UK’s medicines manufacturing industry.

The Resilience Centre of Excellence for UK Medicines Manufacturing Skills will serve as a central, coordinated hub for workforce skills, training and outreach.

It has been funded by the Office for Life Sciences, part of the UK government’s Department for Science, and is being managed through Innovate UK.

The programme will see partner organisations across the UK, including the University of Birmingham, University College London and Teesside University, deliver in-person and remote training courses in advanced laboratory and medicines manufacturing skills to schools, higher and further education colleges, universities and the NHS.

The programme will address key sector priorities, including digital technology, artificial intelligence, data analysis and environmental sustainability, with students benefiting from innovative training technologies such as virtual reality.

This approach will allow them to learn skills in virtual replicas of industry facilities without the safety risks or environmental impacts of physical equipment.

Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, Lord Patrick Vallance, said at the programme’s launch event: “Our medicines manufacturers’ work is critical to the economic success, and health, of the nation. For them to keep being successful, it is imperative that we help them bridge the industry’s skills gaps.

“This new Centre of Excellence will be an important part of those efforts – bringing industry, universities and the NHS together with schools and colleges to ignite the next generation of life sciences talent.”