Novartis has announced it has reached an agreement with Oxford Biomedica to play a vital role in research seeking a cure for cancer.

The deal is worth up to $90 million (55 million pounds) over the next three years and will see the British biotech company manufacture materials required by Novartis for its highly-experimental cancer research programme.

“Novartis has signed an agreement with the British biotech firm to progress its experimental cancer immunotherapy programme.“

Considered a top priority for the Swiss drugmaker, the research focuses on modifying the body's immune cells, equipping them with additional abilities to eradicate tumours. These re-programmed cells are known as chimeric antigen receptor T-cells, or CARTs.

The two firms first linked up last year as part of a four million pounds agreement to manufacture lentivectors for the early stages of this programme.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, John Dawson, chief executive of Oxford Biomedica, said: "We hoped it would lead to this from the first deal and had to work for a year to make sure we could do what we promised."