The Liverpool City Region has been confirmed as a £320m investment zone by the government.
The zone will be the second in England and is expected to create 4,000 jobs across Liverpool, Runcorn, St. Helens, Maghull and Prescot over the next five years.
An initial £10m investment will be made by US pharmaceutical manufacturer TriRx, to enhance its capabilities to manufacture monoclonal antibodies, a type of immunotherapy that work by blocking certain diseases from affecting healthy cells and are used to treat numerous types of diseases including cancers, arthritis and skin conditions.
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The investment zone is being backed by £80m in government funding.
Levelling up minister Lee Rowley said: "Investment zones will drive growth across the 海角视频. For Liverpool that means over £300m of private investment and 4,000 new, well-paid jobs – all building on the city’s world leading reputation in medical science.
"The health and life sciences sector already contributes an estimated £290 million to the Liverpool City Region’s economy every year. Building on this strength, the Liverpool City Region’s Investment Zone includes the University of Liverpool and is part of the government’s vision to drive growth in the sectors of the future including advanced manufacturing, green industries, digital and technology."
Mark Proctor, AstraZeneca site lead for Speke, added: "AstraZeneca welcomes the establishment of the Liverpool City Region Investment Zone focussed on life sciences, which has the potential to attract more businesses to the region’s already thriving medicine development and manufacturing cluster.
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"We employ 400 people at our site in Speke to manufacture our intranasal influenza vaccine, used in the 海角视频 for the child and adolescent immunisation programme and exported to markets around the world.
"The site has the potential to expand into new technology platforms for vaccines and we look forward to working with the Liverpool City Region to identify opportunities to develop these capabilities in the coming years."
A further six investment zones are to be announced in England.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: "Our area is fortunate to play home to world-leading clusters in life science research and innovation, which support thousands of secure, well-paid jobs and training opportunities for local people.
"I am incredibly proud of what our region has achieved in the sector - but this is just a down payment on my future ambitions. I want us to go even further and establish our region at the forefront of 海角视频 science and innovation.
"With a potential £310m worth of investment and thousands of local jobs on offer, it is clear that this is an opportunity worth exploring. Yet, throughout this process, I have been clear that any investment in our area must go much further than purely financial incentives.
"I want to use our status as a force for good, to connect our residents up to secure, well-paid jobs and training opportunities, and attract transformational investment into our area.
"To play our part in making that happen, we will be investing 5% of GVA in R&D over the next few years - that is nearly double national targets. Becoming an innovation superpower might sound like a lofty ambition - but I believe that if anywhere has the potential to achieve it, then it’s the Liverpool City Region."