
Biontech to invest £1bn in British vaccine research centres
A billion-pound investment in research centres by the Covid vaccine-maker BioNTech is a 'firework sent into the night sky advertising Britain's brilliance' in the life sciences, the science and technology secretary has said.
Announcing the deal, which it is hoped will lead to more personalised medicine and high tech jobs, Peter Kyle said it also demonstrated that the government had learnt from its failure earlier this year to secure a £450 million investment from rival pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca.
BioNTech, which co-developed an mRNA-based Covid vaccine alongside pharmaceutical company Pfizer, has been working with the NHS to develop personalised cancer vaccines. It plans to open an AI hub in London, as well as a research centre in Cambridge focusing on genomics and oncology.
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Telegraph
42 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘Cable cowboy' to put 30,000 EV chargers on Britain's roads
'Cable cowboy' John Malone is bankrolling a deal to put 30,000 new electric vehicle (EV) chargers on Britain's roads. Liberty Global, which is controlled by the US billionaire, is spearheading a £300m investment in charge point operator Believ that will improve public access to chargers across the UK. The deal will deliver a major boost to the expansion of the UK's public charging network, which is a crucial factor in persuading drivers to switch to EVs. The Government has set a target of reaching 300,000 public charge points by the end of the decade, but drivers currently only have access to around 80,000. Believ will partner with both public and private sector organisations to roll out the new chargers where they are needed most. Most of the investment will go towards on-street, residential locations to help drivers without off-street parking transition to EVs. Funding will also be allocated to rapid and ultra-rapid charging hubs, as well as rural locations. Denver-based Liberty Global is controlled by Mr Malone, a Trump-supporting billionaire who is one of the largest individual landowners in the US. The 84-year-old holds a number of US media and entertainment assets, including Formula One. He is also a shareholder and board member at Warner Bros Discovery. An aggressive dealmaker, Mr Malone's holdings in paid TV and telecoms have earned him the nickname the 'cable cowboy'. Expansion into EV charging represents a new market for Mr Malone but builds on his other business interests. Believ partners with Virgin Media O2, which is also jointly owned by Liberty Global, to deploy its charging infrastructure. Guy Bartlett, the chief executive of Believ, said the funding 'recognises the scale of investment required and the urgency of the need'. He added: 'Confidence in EVs will continue to grow as drivers see more infrastructure going into the ground.' Figures published this week by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed that one in five new cars sold in Britain were battery-powered. Sales have been boosted by heavy discounting, but a rise in EV chargers is also starting to pay off. A record of nearly 3,000 charging devices were added to Britain's roads in April, equivalent to one every 29 minutes. Lilian Greenwood, the roads minister, said: 'We're working hard to ensure all drivers can charge easily and conveniently – no matter where they are. 'Believ's investment is a brilliant vote of confidence in the transition to electric and another fantastic example of Government and industry working together to roll out tens of thousands of charge points across the country.' In addition to private funding, the Government has pledged £2.3bn to support the switch to EVs, with a £200m budget to help expand public charging and a dedicated £381m fund for local authorities. Zouk Capital, the private equity firm that jointly owns Believ alongside Liberty Global, is also contributing to the funding, alongside banks Santander, ABN Amro, NatWest and MUFG.


The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Churchill documents reveal D-Day landings boosted by import of ‘wonder drug' from America
Newly unearthed documents have revealed that the D-Day landings received a boost from the import of a "wonder drug" from America. Despite its discovery in London in 1928 by Sir Alexander Fleming, large-scale production of the antibiotic penicillin had struggled to take hold in Britain. Attempts to produce substantial quantities of medicine from the bacteria-killing mould had not been achieved by the start of the Second World War. Then prime minister Sir Winston Churchill became increasingly frustrated that Britain had not been able to produce enough penicillin in the preparations for the Normandy landings in 1944. Official papers released by the National Archive – containing handwritten notes by Sir Winston – highlight efforts to boost quantities of the antibiotic, with Britain eventually forced to import it from America. The documents were released ahead of the 81st anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. In one report on February 19, after the issue had been raised in the House of Commons, Sir Winston scrawled in red ink on a Ministry of Supply report noting the Americans were producing greater quantities: 'I am sorry we can't produce more.' On another paper, he complained: 'Your report on penicillin showing that we are only to get about one tenth of the expected output this year, is very disappointing.' Elsewhere in the same file he instructs: 'Let me have proposals for a more abundant supply from Great Britain.' With preparations for D-Day ramped up, efforts to deliver enough American-made penicillin for frontline military personnel soon became a matter of urgency. Decisions needed to be made on the quantities of antibiotic imported, how much to administer to individual patients, and how to get medical staff trained in time. Most British doctors did not know how to issue penicillin – until this point, doctors had nothing available to treat infections like pneumonia and many people died of blood poisoning after minor injuries because no drug existed that could cure them. Early in January 1944, Prof FR Fraser, the Ministry of Health's adviser on the organisation of wartime hospitals, wrote that 50,000-100,000 wounded could be expected from the Second Front. He proposed the Emergency Medical Services might need as many as five billion units of penicillin per month for this. Further documents show discussions on whether the antibiotic should be supplied as calcium or sodium salts, or in tablet form. Ultimately, it was agreed powdered calcium salts would be issued for superficial wounds and sodium salts for use in deep wounds. On May 24 1944, less than a fortnight before D-Day, Prof Fraser reported: 'Sufficient supplies of penicillin are now available for the treatment of battle casualties in EMS hospitals, but not for ordinary civilian patients.' Plans were made for casualties from the frontline in France to be brought back to coastal hospitals in Britain for treatment. A week before D-Day, on May 30 1944, hospitals were instructed to treat battlefield patients en route: 'In an endeavour to prevent the development of gas gangrene and sepsis in wounds the War Office have arranged for the treatment of selected cases by penicillin to be commenced as soon after injury as possible.' Injections of penicillin were to be given to them at intervals of not more than five hours and patients would be wearing a yellow label with the letters 'PEN'. The time and size of penicillin doses should be written on it, they were told. Dr Jessamy Carlson, modern records specialist at the National Archives, said: 'File MH 76/184 gives a glimpse into the extraordinary levels of preparation undertaken in advance of the D-Day landings. 'Only six weeks before, penicillin is just reaching our shores in quantities which will allow it to play a major role in improving the outcomes for service personnel wounded in action.' As Allied forces made inroads into Europe, restrictions on the use of penicillin for civilians began to relax, but only in special cases. In July 1944, Ronald Christie, professor of medicine, wrote to Prof Fraser to tell him: 'The War Office approves of American penicillin being used for medical conditions in service patients and for air raid casualties among civilians.' On the home front, demand for the new 'wonder' drug began to increase, according the National Archives. It was decided that penicillin for civilians should only be supplied to larger hospitals where the staff had been properly trained to administer it. Only in 1946 did it become fully available for the general public.


Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Churchill frustrated he had to buy penicillin from US ahead of D-Day
Sir Winston Churchill was frustrated that he was forced to buy penicillin from the United States ahead of D-Day, official papers have revealed. Production of the 'wonder drug' had struggled to take hold on a large scale in Britain, despite it having been discovered in London by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928. Attempts to produce substantial quantities of medicine from the bacteria-killing mould had not been achieved by the start of the Second World War. Churchill became increasingly frustrated that Britain had not been able to produce enough penicillin during preparations for the Normandy landings in 1944. Official papers released by the National Archive, containing handwritten notes by Sir Winston, highlight efforts to boost quantities of the antibiotic, with Britain eventually forced to import it from America. The documents were released ahead of the 81st anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6 1944. In one report on Feb 19 that year, after the problem had been raised in the Commons, Sir Winston scrawled in red ink on a Ministry of Supply report noting the Americans were producing greater quantities: 'I am sorry we can't produce more.' On another paper, he complained: 'Your report on penicillin, showing that we are only to get about one tenth of the expected output this year, is very disappointing.' Elsewhere in the same file he instructs: 'Let me have proposals for a more abundant supply from Great Britain.' With preparations for D-Day ramped up, efforts to deliver enough American-made penicillin for frontline military personnel soon became a matter of urgency. Decisions needed to be made on the quantities of antibiotic imported, how much to administer to individual patients, and how to get medical staff trained in time. Most British doctors did not know how to issue penicillin – until this point, doctors had nothing available to treat infections like pneumonia, and many people died of blood poisoning after minor injuries because no drug existed that could cure them. Early in January 1944, Prof FR Fraser, the Ministry of Health's adviser on the organisation of wartime hospitals, wrote that 50,000-100,000 wounded could be expected from the second front. He suggested that the Emergency Medical Services might need as many as five billion units of penicillin per month for this. Further documents show discussions on whether the antibiotic should be supplied as calcium or sodium salts, or in tablet form. Ultimately, it was agreed that powdered calcium salts would be issued for superficial wounds and sodium salts for use in deeper ones. On May 24 1944, less than a fortnight before D-Day, Prof Fraser reported: 'Sufficient supplies of penicillin are now available for the treatment of battle casualties in EMS hospitals, but not for ordinary civilian patients.' Plans were made for casualties from the frontline in France to be brought back to coastal hospitals in Britain for treatment. On May 30 1944, a week before D-Day, hospitals were instructed to treat battlefield patients en route. The instructions said: 'In an endeavour to prevent the development of gas gangrene and sepsis in wounds, the War Office have arranged for the treatment of selected cases by penicillin to be commenced as soon after injury as possible.' Injections of penicillin were to be given to them at intervals of not more than five hours and patients would be wearing a yellow label with the letters 'PEN'. The time and size of penicillin doses should be written on it, they were told. Dr Jessamy Carlson, a modern records specialist at the National Archives, said: 'File MH 76/184 gives a glimpse into the extraordinary levels of preparation undertaken in advance of the D-Day landings. 'Only six weeks before, penicillin is just reaching our shores in quantities which will allow it to play a major role in improving the outcomes for service personnel wounded in action.' As Allied forces made inroads into Europe, restrictions on the use of penicillin for civilians began to be relaxed – but only in special cases. In July 1944, Ronald Christie, a professor of medicine, wrote to Prof Fraser to tell him: 'The War Office approves of American penicillin being used for medical conditions in service patients and for air raid casualties among civilians.' On the home front, demand for the new wonder drug began to increase, according the National Archives. It was decided that penicillin for civilians should only be supplied to larger hospitals where staff had been properly trained to administer it. It became fully available to the general public in 1946.