Covid: Loughborough 'lighthouse lab' to reopen after five months

The Charnwood Campus lab will be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week

A laboratory is to resume processing coronavirus tests five months after being closed down by the government.

The former "lighthouse lab" in Loughborough, Leicestershire, has been taken over by a US biotechnology company.

The Charnwood Campus site closed in March after the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it would not be renewing its six-month contract.

Dante Labs will begin operating there in August.

The facility was opened by the government last year to assist with the NHS Test and Trace system.

It was the sixth lighthouse lab to open, with others already operating in Milton Keynes, Cheshire, Glasgow, Cambridge and Newport.

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In March, the DHSC said it would not be renewing the six-month contract with operators PerkinElmer because the laboratory network capacity was being "consolidated".

Dante Labs, which has a partnership with NHS Test and Trace, said it would deliver "PCR testing and clinical whole genome sequencing at scale".

The firm said it planned to have an initial processing capacity of 50,000 Covid-19 samples a day - the same as before it closed on 31 March.

Dante Labs plans to process up to 50,000 Covid-19 tests a day at the Loughborough site

Chief executive Andrea Riposati said: "We're truly delighted to be moving into the Charnwood Campus.

"Not only will the lab help accelerate the UK's Covid-19 testing and sequencing capability, but it will also see us invest in the vibrant local community.

"Our expertise in whole genome sequencing and testing means that this lab will immediately play a crucial role today in managing the Covid-19 pandemic."

Charnwood Campus - a science, technology and enterprise park - welcomed Dante Labs as a new occupier at the site.

Commercial director Gosia Khrais said: "The long-term management of, and research into, Covid-19 is vital work and something we at Charnwood are honoured to be a part of."