The Rosalind Franklin Laboratory, a publicly-owned facility that began processing PCR tests in June 2021, has been mothballed since January 2023 and is now up for sale. Located in Royal Leamington Spa, central England, the 220,000-square-foot laboratory was the largest of its kind in the country and one of the largest in Europe. The site, which is owned by the Department of Health and Social Care, has been put on Rightmove, with the sale managed by the UK real estate service Avison Young on behalf of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Avison Young described it as an “opportunity Space” with limitless potential and the perfect hub for life sciences.
The laboratory processed around 75,000 tests per day at its peak and reported results directly to Test and Trace (NHS Test and Trace). However, demand for testing dropped significantly, leading to the cessation of processing PCR tests for COVID-19 in January 2023.
The potential uses of the lab space were discussed in December 2021, with MPs being told that it could be used for testing different viruses or diseases such as genetic causes of high cholesterol and cancer screening. The final cost of the Rosalind Franklin Laboratory is still being determined, but it is estimated to be around £455 million to taxpayers.
Leamington Labour MP Matt Western raised concerns about the sale, claiming that the lab had cost £1.1 billion and disputing its testing capacity. He emphasized that the government had initially promised the creation of 2,000 jobs and that post-pandemic, the lab would be used as a general medical diagnostic testing center.
Conservative MP Maria Caulfield stated that as the laboratory has been mothballed rather than closed down, no closing down costs have been incurred, and the equipment is being left in place to minimize the time required to restart operations if needed. UKHSA director of Testing, Marc Merel, mentioned that options are being explored for the best use of the site going forwards and that an update will be provided in due course.
In addition to the sale of the Rosalind Franklin Laboratory, the Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC) in Oxfordshire, which received at least £215 million of government funding, was sold for an undisclosed fee to Catalent, a multinational pharma biotech company with plans to invest approximately £120 million to develop the site. Catalent aims to complete the building of the facility and equip it with state-of-the-art capabilities for the development and manufacture of biologic therapies and vaccines, including mRNA, proteins, and other advanced modalities.