March 2022 marks two years since the UK government called upon Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) to create the UK Lighthouse Lab Network in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care, UK Biocentre and the University of Glasgow, closely supported by both NHS and Public Health England. MDC also established one of the founding Lighthouse Labs, the Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab (APLL) in Cheshire.
A project on an unprecedented scale, the labs provided mass Covid-19 PCR testing for the nation, serving as a beacon of light through the darkness of the pandemic.
Growing from a standing start to become the largest diagnostic network in British history, the UK Lighthouse Lab Network played a critical role in the country’s understanding of, and response to, the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nearly two years since the UK Lighthouse Lab Network’s first test was processed, the end of March 2022 also coincides with the government’s plan to scale back on Covid-19 restrictions and testing.
As the APLL is demobilised from 31 March, the scale of the impact the UK Lighthouse Lab Network had during the pandemic, leaves a legacy that will be recognised for years to come.
Professor Chris Molloy, CEO at Medicines Discovery Catapult and Founding Director of the National Lighthouse Programme, said:
“MDC was tasked with creating the UK Lighthouse Lab network, and as part of that to establish the Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab (APLL), setting-up and scaling the facilities needed for quality-assured Covid-19 testing on an industrial scale, during a national crisis.
“The results of that project, delivered in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care, UK Biocentre and the University of Glasgow, Astra Zeneca and then many other labs was closely supported by both NHS and Public Health England. It resulted in the UK benefitting from the highest per-capita testing capacity of any large country – with 150 million samples processed across the network.
“The work demonstrated quality science at scale and provided millions with access to immediate public health data, significantly impacting the direction of the country’s pandemic response.
“Initially staffed by an army of volunteers, the APLL would go on to develop a team of over 700 people and train over 1,000 scientists. For over two years APLL never closed, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and processing over 23 million samples.
“Although today marks the end of the APLL and the network, the benefits created by the network – demonstrating science at scale through skills training, quality controls, data analytics, new test development, and manufacturing practice – will flow through all the Lighthouse staff into our own life sciences and healthcare system for decades to come.
“I would like to publicly express immense gratitude to all MDC staff and early volunteers for their dedication in delivering and maintaining a world-class facility that has been critical to the UK’s pandemic response. Everyone involved should feel proud of their service to the public and the legacy it now leaves for the nation.”
