The former research site of Lilly was at Bromborough.[6]
In 1968, when the centre opened, Eli Lilly was spending £20m on research in the UK. The average research cost of a new molecular entity is currently over £1bn. In 2003, a £40m investment transformed the site into a Centre of Excellence in Neuroscience Research.
In October 2019, Eli Lilly announced the closure of their Erl Wood research centre by the end of 2020 with some staff moving to other Eli Lilly locations in the local area and neuroscience research moving to the USA.[7] A year later, in October 2020, UCB announced they had acquired the site from Lilly and would complete a refurbishment of the site.[8]
The site had laboratory animals. A new £1.3m centre for Elanco Products opened in November 1978, with 12,500 sq ft.[13] The site also researched plant science, where chemists developed pesticide formulation.
The pain killer benoxaprofen (known as Opren) was developed at the site in 1971, and launched on Tuesday 14 October 1980, and had been in hospitals since May 1980. It had to be rapidly withdrawn on 4 August 1982, as there were numerous side-effects, with maybe up to 61 deaths in the UK. It was banned by the government on 6 September 1982.[14][15][16]
It is accessed via the A30 and B3020, and the A322 via junction 3 of the M3. The site has a 200-seat restaurant. The EMC building opened in 2000. The site is set in woodland.
