New £55m Institute To Boost NI's Precision Medicine Sector

Economy Minister Conor Murphy has launched the new Future Medicines Institute (FMI). This £55 million industry-led initiative aims to advance Northern Ireland's Precision Medicine sector.

Backed by a consortium of leading companies and supported by academics from Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University, FMI will focus on driving innovation and productivity. The institute will build on Northern Ireland's strong reputation in diagnostics and therapeutics.

Announcing the funding boost, Minister Murphy said: "This £55 million investment in the Future Medicines Institute is a landmark step for Precision Medicine in the north which will strengthen our Life and Health Sciences sector and reinforce the region's role in global healthcare innovation.

"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 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."

The industry consortium is made up of Diaceutics PLC, Fusion Antibodies PLC, Randox Laboratories Ltd, Almac Group, Sonrai Analytics, Exploristics and ProAxsis. Ryan Keeling, CEO of Diaceutics PLC said: "The Future Medicines Institute represents a pivotal step forward for Precision Medicine. At Diaceutics, this collaboration provides an opportunity to harness data-driven insights and cutting-edge technology to improve outcomes across the healthcare sector. By joining forces with other local companies through FMI, we're reinforcing Northern Ireland's role as a leader in Precision Medicine."

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 & Innovation (UKRI) will manage the delivery of the projects within FMI. Dame Jessica Corner, UKRI SRO for Place and Chair of SIPF, said: "We are delighted to welcome the Future Medicines Institute to the Strength in Places Fund programme. Funding from the Northern Ireland Executive for the Institute has enabled a very strong project from the initial competition to join the other UKRI Strength in Places Projects and demonstrates how highly the programme is regarded.

"We look forward to supporting the Future Medicines Institute to benefit very quickly from all the experiences and insights we have gained from the programme and all the other projects to deliver real benefits for the Northern Ireland economy and widely for society."