Science Minister Lord Sainsbury hailed Bradford's new £6 million pharmaceutical institute as a model for others to follow as he performed the official opening.

Lord Sainsbury was at the ground-breaking Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation (IPI) at the University of Bradford yesterday to see the hi-tech development for himself.

And he predicted it would help generate investment and jobs in Bradford.

The centre aims to slash the time it takes to get drugs from the laboratory on to the market by using some of the most sophisticated computer technology available. As well as conducting research into drug development, it will sell software to industry and encourage the formation of new start-up businesses.

Customers of the new centre are expected to include some of the world's biggest drug companies such as Pfizer and Astra Zeneca.

Officials from businesses, local hospital trusts and academia attended yesterday's launch.

"The centre will produce some high-quality jobs within it and hopefully create some more successful spin-off companies," said Lord Sainsbury. "It is exactly what we want to see - a combination of really world-class science and the transfer of that knowledge to benefit industry.

"IPI will help support the UK in maintaining and increasing its success in drugs development.

"It is a great opportunity to get academics working with companies and to bring research and business together."

The hi-tech new building, which features a business incubator for companies to engage with the centre's academic team, was unveiled just 12 months after work started on the site.

It was paid for by a £2 million grant from Yorkshire Forward and funds from the sale of Bradford Particle Design, a spin-off company of the university, and other agencies.

Paul Thorning, director of the institute, said the average cost of taking a drug to market was $800 million - of which 75 per cent is wasted on paying for failures.

The centre aims to slash those costs by calculating the likelihood of a drug succeeding.

"Our work is about trying to help people understand which drugs will get through the development process and which drugs won't," he said.