Scheme to house facilities for the research and development of vaccines for respiratory diseases

Scott Brownrigg’s plans for a vaccine manufacturing centre in Oxford for pharmaceutical giant Moderna have been given the green light.

The Innovation and Technology Centre at Harwell Campus was approved by the Vale of White Horse council earlier this month.

It will consist of two buildings totalling 145,000sq ft, housing research, development and manufacturing facilities for the latest mRNA vaccines for a range of respiratory diseases.

The project team also includes project manager Bidwells, structural engineer Baynham Meikle, building services engineer Hoare Lea, landscape architect Exterior Architecture and planning consultant Carter Jonas.

Construction is set to begin later this year with the scheme scheduled to become operational in 2025.

Moderna said the scheme will put Harwell at the heart of the UK’s pandemic resilience strategy. The campus is already home to the £200m Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre, which started construction in 2020 at the height of the Covid pandemic.