A new £45m fund has been announced to help life science businesses.

The cash is to help growing businesses in Macclesfield and across Cheshire East which are in the field of life sciences, which includes medicines and biology.

At least £10m will be invested into Alderley Park, where the fund was announced this week.

The site is being developed as a life science park after pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced it is moving most of its operation out of the site.

A successful bid by the Greater Manchester and Cheshire and Warrington LEP secured £20m of Government funding which has been matched by private sector investors and is expected to reach more than £45m.Anyone

Cheshire East Council – which owns a five per cent stake in Alderley Park – contributed £5m to the fund.

Council leader Michael Jones has been right behind supporting life sciences, saying the sector is of major importance to the borough’s economy.

He said: “This is a great achievement for Cheshire East and our partners and is a clear sign of our commitment to growing the world class life science cluster in Cheshire and Greater Manchester.”