Denmark’s Novo Nordisk to invest £115 mn in new research centre at Oxford

Denmark's Novo Nordisk plans to invest £115 million over 10 years in a new science research centre in Oxford.

The new centre, which would work on new ways of treating type 2 diabetes, would have 100 academics and scientists.

The decision to invest in the UK was described by David Gauke, chief secretary to the treasury, as "a vote of confidence in the UK's position as a world-leader in science and research".

According to Novo Nordisk, it was attracted by Oxford's history of "excellence".

Novo Nordisk's chief science officer and executive vice-president Mads Thomsen told BBC that the UK's decision to leave the EU made the firm pause before taking a very long view.

"Obviously we think the Brexit decision was unfortunate. That being said, Oxford University has been around for 800 years so the academic excellence and our company's ability to turn that into medicines hasn't really changed," he said.

While the disease research and molecular biology would be conducted in Oxford, any new drugs or treatments would be developed and manufactured in Denmark. Although Oxford University would get some reward for any success, Thomsen said that bulk of any commercial gains would go to the Danish company.

According to John Bell, a professor of medicine at Oxford, the new set-up, which would allow for daily interactions between academic and industrial scientists, underlined the importance of sharing research and cutting-edge science across sectors.

Though Novo Nordisk would press ahead with its investment, Brexit looked likely to see one important pharmaceutical body leave the UK.

The European Medicines Agency, which had been based in London since 1995, and which had been responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines developed by pharmaceutical companies for use in the EU would likely leave the UK.