Liverpool-based drug development company Redx Pharma is to open a new research and development facility at Alderley Park in Cheshire, the site being vacated by AstraZeneca’s research team.
The new company, called Redx Anti-Infectives, will create 119 science-based jobs at the site to develop drugs that fight resistance to antibiotics and new medicines to tackle viral infections.
A particular focus will be on hard-to-treat infections such as MRSA, as well as conditions such as influenza, Hepatitis C and HIV.
The company said a further 28 jobs were expected to be created in the supply chain.
Redx Anti-Infectives begins operations supported by a grant of £4.7m from the UK Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF).
The company also recently completed a significant funding round of £6m, brokered by Manchester-based Acceleris Corporate Finance with a combination of commercial partnering revenue and shareholder equity funding.
We will be working closely with our colleagues at AstraZeneca, who made a compelling commercial case to attract us to Alderley Park
Neil Murray, Chief Executive of Redx Pharma, said the new company would bring ‘fresh thinking and an original approach’ to drug development.
‘Whilst our headquarters remain in Liverpool and we have ambitious plans to grow our business and create high value science posts in the city, at the same time we recognise that the facilities at Alderley Park are world class and enable us to move quickly in expanding this key new part of our business. We will be working closely with our colleagues at AstraZeneca, who made a compelling commercial case to attract us to Alderley Park. We look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration,’ he said.
Clive Morris, AstraZeneca’s Vice President of Research & Development, said the arrival of Redx to Alderley Park, is ‘an important first step in our ambition to secure a sustainable future for the site’.
‘We will continue to seek further opportunities to attract other innovation-driven companies and, wherever possible, build on the existing bioscience expertise and world class facilities available at Alderley Park,’ he said.
Redx develops medicines based on existing classes of drugs, structurally modifying them to create new proprietary medicines. Benefits are said to include fewer side effects, greater efficacy and ease of use. The company achieves revenues by entering into licensing agreements with mid-sized and large pharmaceutical partners who undertake further clinical studies with promising new drug compounds.
Redx Anti-Infectives is the third business to be created by Redx Pharma, which was founded in 2010. It follows Redx Oncology, which employs 111 people in Liverpool, and Redx Crop Protection, based in Frome, Somerset.