North West Lab Reaches Testing Milestone: Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab processes 4 million samples

The Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab in Cheshire, which plays a key role in the UK Government’s national COVID testing, last week processed its 4 millionth test since its launch at the start of the pandemic.

The equivalent of testing the entire population of Liverpool and Manchester, the facility, operated by Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC), stood up its site in April and is now able to process 50,000 tests in 24 hours.

For Professor Chris Molloy, CEO of MDC, this achievement is major milestone in six months of hard work and is the epitome of a ‘can-do’ attitude.

Professor Molloy, who led the formation of the national Lighthouse Labs network, said:

“The Alderley Lighthouse was home – day and night – to an army of 300 volunteers from across the region who answered the call to action when it was stood up in April this year.

“We now have a team of over 400 contract staff at the Alderley Lighthouse, many of whom are at the beginning of their careers and receiving excellent training and supervision.  Passing four million tests – 1 million of them in the last month – has been a monumental achievement, demonstrating the quality, determination and sense of purpose of our staff in coming together to help the country in this time of adversity.

He concluded: “I wish to thank our teams of today and earlier in the year behalf of the four million people whose lives they have touched through their dedication and hard work.”