THE government has awarded £750,000 of funding to Oxford University to help with its biomedical research.

It is one of 14 universities across the UK to be awarded cash from a pot of £10m.

Projects which the money could be spent on include work on flu vaccines and techniques which monitor the interaction of drugs with important proteins that reside in cell membranes.

Oxford University has been given the money from the Biomedical Catalyst fund which is managed by the Medical Research Council and the Technology Strategy Board.

Professor Rodney Phillips, associate head of the medical sciences division at Oxford University, said: “We are delighted to receive this large grant.

“Oxford has one of the largest clinical trial portfolios in the UK and great expertise in taking discoveries from the lab into the clinic.

“But it is not always easy for researchers to get the funding. They need to see if their novel research could have promise as a new treatment for patients.

“This new funding should enable a lot more of this initial development work and clinical testing to happen and is very welcome.”

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “We want to create a world-class NHS that makes the latest and best treatments available to patients.”