Covid-19 Pandemic Response

Performing over 23 million Covid-19 PCR tests and training more than 1,000 scientists over a two-year period throughout the pandemic.

In April 2020, the UK government called upon Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) to create the UK Lighthouse Lab Network in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care, UK Biocentre, and the University of Glasgow, closely supported by both NHS and Public Health England. MDC also established one of the founding Lighthouse Labs, the Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab (APLL) in Cheshire.

Growing from a standing start to becoming the largest diagnostic network in British history, the UK Lighthouse Lab Network played a critical role in the country’s understanding of and response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the two years to the end of March 2022, APLL evolved from a facility staffed and run by MDC volunteers, NHS experts, industry, academics, and charities from across the country, to a full-time team of over 700 people, working in shifts 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

The efforts of all our colleagues who supported APLL resulted in the UK Lighthouse Network achieving the highest per capita testing capacity of any large country and testing over 150 million PCR samples nationally.

From inception, the APLL team performed over 23 million tests and trained over 1,000 early career scientists, who are now equipped for future employment in the high-growth, high-skill biotech and diagnostics industry.

Nearly two years since the UK Lighthouse Lab Network’s first test was processed, the end of March 2022 coincided with the government’s plan to scale back on Covid-19 restrictions and testing.

The APLL was demobilised on 31 March 2022. The scale of the impact the UK Lighthouse Lab Network had during the pandemic leaves a legacy that will be recognised for years to come.

Timeline

A timeline of events at the Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab.

Mar 2020

18
MDC asked to help set up UK Lighthouse Lab Network
21
Alderley Park site chosen as location for one of the Lighthouse Labs
24
Army deliver equipment to Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab (APLL)

Apr 2020

7
Day One: First patient sample processed
19
Processing 1,000 samples a day

May 2020

Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab reached 300 trained scientists processing samples

Jun 2020

Processed 1 million samples in the first 84 days of being established

Sep 2020

16
Built capacity to process more than 30,000 samples per day
Automated systems are now delivering more than 50% of testing capacity

Oct 2020

13
Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak visits Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab
Processing 40,000 samples a day
"This is a major milestone in six-months of hard work and the epitome of 'can-do' attitude."
Prof. Chris Molloy

Nov 2020

Covid-19 screening assay process migrated to 384 plate assay format, further increasing throughput and speed

Dec 2020

24
APLL staff continue to process the thousands of coronavirus samples over the festive period
“It was all the more gratifying that we met this milestone over the festive break, as the lab team continued to work normal shifts over Christmas and New Year.”
Prof. Chris Molloy