New National Biosecurity Centre in Harlow aims to fight pandemics

A new scientific center is under construction which aims to help protect the United Kingdom from future pandemics.

The government has promised an investment “of several billion pounds” to make the National Biosecurity Center (NBC) in Harlow, Essex, the largest of its genre in Europe by bringing existing Centers of the UK Health Security Agency to London and Wiltshire on a single site.

The agency’s scientists are looking for pathogens and stimulating vaccine production in order to prepare for potential threats to global diseases.

Visiting Harlow, the Secretary of Health, Wes Street, said: “Covid-19 has taught us how crucial it is to be able to respond quickly to the new emerging threats and the new NBC will allow us to do exactly.”

The government has said that UKHSA would continue to operate from Colindale in northwestern London and Porton in Wiltshire until the new Harlow center is fully operational, to ensure a safe and efficient transition.

About 1,600 jobs will be created to support the construction of the Harlow site and this would allow closer collaboration between scientists, the government said.

The first installations should open by mid-20130 with the fully operational site by 2038.

“Harlow will become a scientific hub, the National Biosecurity Center exploring new ways of treating disease, improving people’s health and saving more lives,” said Streetting.

“By supporting innovation, research and life sciences, we will make our NHS adapted to the future and cement the United Kingdom as a superpower of the life sciences.”

The government said that “of the total investment of several billion dollars in the center, 250 million pounds sterling will be spent by the government for this parliament alone to launch delivery”.

“The exact total amount of financing of the center will be confirmed in due time,” added a spokesperson.

We hoped that the NBC would create partnerships between industry scientists and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to pursue new breakthroughs.

The Harlow site would have laboratories that would be used to study dangerous and new diseases.

Dyfed Alsop, UKHSA interim managing director, said: “This is a fantastic news for the United Kingdom and we will mean that we can continue to offer the best possible protection for people’s health for future generations.”

The announcement follows a government’s commitment to spending 1 billion pounds sterling at a center that does research on animal diseases in Weybridge, Surrey.

Porton Down’s defense, science and technology laboratory site has not been affected by this new development and would remain operational.