The sale of a £200 million publicly funded vaccine centre in Oxfordshire was "inevitable" according to a councillor who welcomed the move.
The Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC) at Harwell Campus, near Didcot, which is being built to prepare the country for future pandemics, has been sold to a US business, Catalent Biotherapeutics, despite protests.
The Liberal Democrat Oxfordshire county councillor for the Hendreds and Harwell, Sally Povolotsky, backed the sale.
READ MORE: Publicly funded £200 million Vaccine centre in Oxfordshire has been sold to a US business
The sustainability engineer and Director of Oxfordshire's Living Laboratory said: "This Government has not helped the Harwell VMIC facility become the reality it could be.
"Sadly without additional public funding to complete the facility and the market advancement during the pandemic of other mass manufacturing vaccine facilities, I think this end point was inevitable."
Ms Povolotsky noted the news that Catalent will employ more than 400 people at the Harwell Campus site and is "heartened" that the New Jersey based business will 'stay true to the original purpose' of the site.
This purpose she described as: "Strengthening the U.K.'s vaccine manufacturing capability by bringing innovation to the sector and getting more vaccines to the front line."
READ MORE: Outcry as publicly funded £200 million Vaccine centre sold to a US business
Catalent plans to invest up to $160 million (£120 million) in the VMIC.
The Government announced the decision to sell the centre at the end of last year, Oxford City Council unanimously condeming the move in a meeting on March 22 after a protest at town hall.
Leader of the council, Susan Brown, described the sale as "extremely sad and shortsighted".
She said: "This could have remained a national treasure to be cherished rather than being sold to the highest bidder."
Leader of the Green Group on the City Council Chris Jarvis– one of the councillors who proposed the motion against the sale – called the move an "unmitigated disaster".
READ MORE: 50 people fuming over privatisation of £200m vaccine centre that 'saved lives' during Covid
Catalent said in a statement yesterday that the investment will pay to equip the centre with “state-of-the-art capabilities" and their priority is to get it built within the year.
Oxfordshire Conservative councillors Liam Walker and Eddie Reeves have also voiced their support for the government's decision.
Hanborough and Minster Lovell councillor Mr Walker, said: "While this really is a decision for the Government I am proud of the role that scientists played in Oxford developing a Covid vaccine used around the world.
"Oxfordshire will now continue to play a role with this multimillion pound centre to support efforts around the world in continuing with the fight against COVID and other viruses that may arise in the future.”
READ MORE: Sale of £200 million Oxford vaccine centre condemned by whole council
The Leader of the opposition, Cllr Reeves, based who represents Banbury Calthorpe said: "Catalent is a world leader in this field, employing over ten thousand people globally. I expect that any acquisition of this kind will have been made with a view to releasing fresh investment into the UK biotherapeutics industry.
"World-leading companies investing in Oxfordshire and employing thousands of people should be something to be welcomed unless, of course, we want all industries of this kind to be permanently controlled by the state."
Science minister, George Freeman said in a letter to MPs that all VMIC employees have been given a role at the new company on the same terms and that the vaccine taskforce was "confident that in a future pandemic, Catalent would have the ability to produce vaccines in the UK, for the UK".
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