“The opening of the Future Medicines Institute is a landmark for precision medicine and for the future of healthcare in Northern Ireland,” said Professor Sir Ian Greer at the launch today in Belfast.
Department for the Economy NI Minister Conor Murphy launched the Future Medicines Institute (FMI), a £55million industry-led collaborative initiative aimed at advancing the North’s Precision Medicine sector.
Backed by a consortium of leading companies in Precision Medicine and supported by leading academics from Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University, FMI will drive innovation and productivity in Precision Medicine, building on Northern Ireland’s strong reputation in diagnostics and therapeutics.
Minister Murphy said: “The FMI will foster collaboration across industry, academia, and healthcare to accelerate the development of new drugs and diagnostics, driving growth in our economy. It will provide a vital pathway to speed up patient access to personalised treatments, streamline drug development processes, and bring innovative solutions to market at pace.”
The industry consortium has been offered £35m from the Northern Ireland Executive towards FMI, with the consortium members contributing an additional £20m. This will fund a wide range of collaborative R&D activities between the companies and universities. It will also create a shared lab within Queen’s University Belfast, where industry and academics can come together to collaborate and access leading edge technologies.
Professor Sir Ian Greer, Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast, said: “Queen’s is proud to be hosting this initiative, working in partnership with industry experts and Ulster University to advance novel therapeutics and diagnostics. The FMI will stimulate the creation of a cluster for innovation, talent development, and global partnerships within Northern Ireland’s Life and Health Sciences sector.”
“By joining forces with other local companies through FMI, we’re reinforcing Northern Ireland’s role as a leader in Precision Medicine.”
The industry consortium is made up of Diaceutics PLC, Fusion Antibodies Randox Laboratories Ltd, Almac Group, Sonrai Analytics, Exploristics | Transforming Clinical Trial Design and ProAxsis.
The FMI will also focus on skills development, leveraging the local universities and colleges to address talent gaps in the sector, foster spinouts, and drive job creation, supporting the broader Northern Ireland economy.
UK Research and Innovation Research & Innovation (UKRI) will manage the delivery of the projects within FMI.
