Wallonia, the southern region of Belgium, boasts a highly successful biopharma ecosystem, thriving across the pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing sector.
Their impressive transition from industrial decline to economic success in tech and pharma mirrors similar developments in the North of England, presenting significant opportunities for collaboration and trade.
The foundations for a partnership were set with the signing of the Joint Declaration in 2021, followed by reciprocal visits in 2023 and 2024, further reinforcing their bilateral ties. Later this month, Walloon companies and institutions will visit Scotland, the North of England, and the Midlands as part of a strategic biotech/ATMP trade mission.
We are proud to support UNIVERCELLS, and their work with researchers at the Oxford Vaccine Group, the Pandemic Sciences Institute and Oxford Cancer, by helping to organise a lunch discussion seeking to foster dialogue with decision-makers and industry leaders from both Belgium and the UK on the transformative potential of enhanced collaboration in two key areas:
Patient Access to Advanced Therapies: How can we ensure affordable, cutting-edge therapies, such as RNA vaccines targeting pathogens of pandemic threat and RNA cancer vaccines, can reach patients in the UK and globally through public-private partnerships that harness the strengths of both nations' public health and research ecosystems?
How can we maximize the economic benefits of public investment in biotech, ensuring that these gains are geographically widespread and benefit small and medium-sized enterprises that are vital to the biopharma supply chain?
In the next few years, they aim to implement a strategic plan focused on drug development collaboration, technology transfer, and equipment installation, with technology transfer to the Oxford Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility (CBF) being a key aspect.
Longer term, they aim to provide GMP-grade RNA manufacturing capacity across the UK, establishing Univercells’ technology platform as a foundation for UK research and innovation, and generating significant patient benefits through affordable, advanced therapies, while driving economic growth by fostering local innovation and strengthening the UK’s position in the global biopharma ecosystem.
We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Hala Audi from Univercells and everyone who participated. This lunch was organised by AWEX UK, Wallonie Bruxelles International, Belgian Embassy in the United Kingdom, the General Representation of Wallonia-Brussels in the United Kingdom
