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iiCON is a world leading centre for infection innovation and R&D – working with industry, academics, and clinicians to save and improve lives around the world by supporting innovation and progressing the development of antimicrobial products and treatments.

Established in 2020, iiCON brings together industry, academia, and the NHS in a concerted effort with a clear aim: to save lives globally by accelerating the discovery and development of new treatments, diagnostics, vaccines, and preventative products for infectious diseases.

Based within the North West of England and led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, iiCON’s partners are Unilever, LifeArc, Medicines for Malaria Venture MMV, Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust, University of Liverpool, Evotec, and Infex Therapeutics.

The consortium works with companies of all sizes, supporting them at all stages of the innovation journey, from product concept to adoption.

iiCON does this by enabling impactful collaborations and providing companies with access to world leading expertise and facilities across eleven specialist research platforms co-developed and operated by its industrial, academic, and clinical partners.

Latest News & Insights

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Experienced female scientist preparing specimens for microscopic examination

News March 2026

Raft of new products accelerated through UKRI-funded programme

News February 2026

Landmark pnuemococcal vaccine trial reaches key milestone

News February 2026

Innovation investment company LYVA Labs joins iiCON

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Join us on the Innovation Journey

We partner with companies from early-stage start-ups to global pharma leaders to support their innovation and fast-track new products and treatments to patients and communities. iiCON’s commercially sustainable, open-access model provides industry with world-class expertise, facilities, and resources – supporting every stage of the innovation journey from discovery to adoption.

Discovery

Our early-stage-discovery platforms offer sophisticated expertise & facilities to support world-leading innovation. This knowledge & capability enables the discovery of innovative diagnostics & antimicrobials, bringing forward transformative novel candidates to combat global challenges including multi-drug resistance.

Translation

Our Translation platforms support the development of novel antimicrobials & diagnostics. Specialist support is available to progress novel therapeutics from hits to leads. Highly innovative technologies including nanotherapeutics, innovative humanised tissue & microfluidic models, including organoid systems & Organ-on-Chip is accessible to industry to fast-track drug discovery. New drug development pathways are being developed to support the industry effort to combat multi-drug-resistant superbugs.

Evaluation and Approval

World-class facilities & expertise support product evaluation & validation. Our expertise in Human Challenge trials offers industry co-located research & clinical facilities, with impactful first-in-human trials run by world-leading researchers available for all antimicrobial applications, significantly de-risking the transition into humans. Our platforms also offer validation & verification of non-invasive diagnostics & advanced surface science capability from leading research institutions.

Adoption

Our Adoption platforms shape & inform global health policy and support market access, helping to protect communities from diseases including Malaria. Our experts also work closely with industry & policy makers to position health interventions & products to enable maximum public health benefit.

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