On Friday, 29 May 2026, a delegation from FCDO Ghana, DBT Ghana, the 24-Hour Economy
Authority (24HEA) and Palladium visited the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC) to learn
from what is widely recognised as Europe’s largest centre for biomedical research and
healthcare. CBC supports over 23,000 jobs on site, with thousands more across the wider
supply chain, and is home to globally recognised institutions and companies including
AstraZeneca, Abcam and the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre (JCBC).
The primary objective of the visit was to draw practical insights to inform the design and
operationalisation of the proposed Legon Pharmaceutical Industrial Park (LePIP) – a flagship
initiative of the 24HEA, supported by the UK-funded Jobs and Economic Transformation (JET)
Programme.
One of the most striking lessons from CBC is the power of strategic partnership between
government, academia, healthcare institutions and industry. This model has helped attract major
investment, accelerate innovation, strengthen manufacturing and research ecosystems, and
generate significant economic value. Recent analysis shows CBC contributes £4.7 billion
annually to the UK economy, while current and planned expansion continues to attract around
£3 billion of private capital.
It was also impressive to see the scale of private sector confidence in the ecosystem.
AstraZeneca’s Discovery Centre, located on the campus, represents an investment of around
£1 billion and serves as the company’s global R&D hub in Cambridge.
Encouragingly, the visit also highlighted the wider strength of UK–Ghana research and
innovation ties. The UK Government has noted that there are about 300 active research
partnerships between the UK and Ghana, underlining the depth of collaboration already in place
and the potential to go further in areas such as pharmaceuticals, health innovation and
advanced manufacturing.
As Ghana steadily advances the vision for LePIP, the CBC experience reinforces how a well-
designed ecosystem can unlock investment, deepen value chains, create jobs and support long-
term economic transformation in Ghana’s pharmaceutical and life sciences sector. At the same
time, there is clear value for the UK: partnerships of this kind can strengthen bilateral trade and
investment links, create opportunities for UK firms and research institutions, and reinforce the
UK’s position as a global life sciences and innovation hub.
Our sincere thanks to our hosts at Cambridge Biomedical Campus (Simon, Megan and Corrina)
for their generous hospitality, valuable time and openness in sharing their experience and
resources. The lessons from the visit will be invaluable as Ghana works to build a globally
competitive pharmaceutical and life sciences ecosystem.
