BioCity Nottingham Ltd, the UK’s leading provider of life sciences business incubation services, has been appointed by AstraZeneca to establish a new centre for bioscience companies at Alderley Park in Cheshire. The BioHub, will initially provide 36,000 sq ft of high-end laboratory and office facilities for early-stage and growing firms engaged in innovative drug discovery and development. Demand for accommodation is expected to be competitive with the first three tenant companies due to move on site today.

The BioCity management team has worked with colleagues at AstraZeneca since late 2012 to look into the feasibility of creating a specialist centre for the next generation of life science companies. With this agreement in place, BioCity now has a presence in three of the main UK life science ‘hot-spots’ having established BioCity Nottingham in 2003 and BioCity Scotland in 2012. The organisation has a strong track record of working with global Pharmaceutical partners such as MSD, and now AstraZeneca, to bring about the transformation of highly-valuable sites and facilities. There is strong evidence to indicate that the clustering of life science businesses that BioCity engineers provides huge benefits to the companies and leads to greater success as well as opening up significant investment opportunities and adding value to the regional economy.

In addition to providing the BioHub laboratory and office accommodation, AstraZeneca is providing tenant firms access to restaurants, meeting rooms and conference facilities. Firms will also be able to rent highly specialised technical equipment and services. The first BioHub tenants to move on site include; Blueberry Therapeutics Ltd, Imagen Biotech Ltd and Redx Anti-Infectives Limited, a subsidiary of Redx Pharma. All three have strong ambitions for growth.

Dr Glenn Crocker, CEO of BioCity Nottingham Limited, has led the discussions with AstraZeneca: “We are delighted to have been chosen to advise and help establish the BioHub at Alderley Park. We bring many years of experience in developing thriving communities of successful life science companies and look forward to working closely with the AstraZeneca management team. I believe we now have a unique opportunity to build connections between tenant companies based at Alderley Park, Nottingham and Scotland which could ultimately transform the way life science innovation is achieved.”

Speaking on behalf of AstraZeneca, Clive Morris, AstraZeneca Vice President, Research & Development said, “We are delighted to welcome three innovation-driven companies to Alderley Park. I am confident that with BioCity’s experience in this area we can continue to seek further opportunities to attract future investment and build on the existing world class facilities available at Alderley Park.”.

Scotland, UK: BioCity CEO to deliver key address at BioScotland on 30^th April

Scottish ambitions to double the life sciences sector by 2020 could be realised if the ‘perfect storm’ of prevailing conditions are grasped and built on, according to CEO of the BioCity Group Dr Glenn Crocker.

Commenting ahead of his address to the gathering of sector experts at BioScotland on 30 April, Dr Crocker identifies several factors working together to have a profound impact on the long term future of the life sciences sector in Scotland.

A combination of new investment funding, the introduction of collaborative research initiatives such as the Technology Innovation Centres and  the  IMI European Lead Factory compound drug discovery programme based at BioCity Scotland, coupled with new opportunities arising from the restructuring of global pharmaceutical companies heralds a new era in the development of great scientific ideas, he says.

Dr Crocker will address the gathering of Scottish healthcare, biotechnology and pharmaceutical experts at the University of Strathclyde’s annual BioScotland conference and exhibition.  He will expand on the findings of his report into UK life science start-ups published last December¹ and will reflect on the latest Scottish initiatives to boost life science innovation, start-ups and business growth.  With active Scottish Government support for the sector and university spin-out activity ahead of the rest of the UK, the country has the potential to attract ambitious new ventures and significant interest from investors.

“I am encouraged by what I see coming together to benefit the Scottish life sciences sector. Not only is there high-level government commitment to providing support and funding for innovative new companies, but also the practical infrastructure in bio-science business incubation, not only at BioCity Scotland but in Edinburgh, Glasgow and within the leading research institutions. If we combine this with access to specific UK funding streams as well as a strong private Scottish Angels network, new companies with growth potential should thrive here.

“We may still have to work to attract bigger private investors and VC interest so firms can rapidly scale-up, but I believe they will soon look beyond London and the South East for exciting commercial returns.”

BioScotland will take place in The Barony Hall at the University of Strathclyde on Tuesday 30 April. BioCity Scotland is supporting the event and seeking to talk to companies looking for laboratory, office space and routes to finance, as well as shared facilities and access to scientific equipment.

Eager for some good news today of a new generation of feisty female leaders, I download the 2013 Female FTSE Report from Cranfield School of Management hoping to see if there has been an improvement in the number of women in top positions.

Oh dear. The Cranfield survey shows that in the first half of the financial year 44% of board level appointments at FTSE 100 firms went to women, but that slowed to 26% in the second half. Cranfield says this indicates firms have become complacent about the issue.
Women make up just 17% of board posts, well below the 25% target recommended by the government-commissioned Davis Review.

We can’t afford to let the momentum slide. Compelling evidence from the likes of the Credit Suisse Research Institute measures how gender diversity benefits corporate performance. By studying the stocks in 45 developed and emerging markets, the research found that 41 per cent of them had women on their boards at the end of 2005, increasing to 59 per cent by the end of 2011. Over the same period companies with female board members outperformed those without women on the board on both share price and return on equity (ROE). Surely we need to take these findings very seriously if we want to maximise commercial success and also make the most of the female talent pool.

I believe we still need to work at changing organisational culture, and that applies to both the public and private sectors. Flatter management structures, flexible working patterns and a consensus style of decision-making bring out the best in ambitious women executives but there remains a tribal mentality in many corporations which denies talented women the chance to shine. Being Nottingham-based, I’d like to see one of our university business schools carry out research into the number of female-held directorships across Nottinghamshire or East Midlands companies so we have a regional benchmark to work from.

Looking to the future, many cities retain a significant proportion of graduates from their colleges and universities. If we initiated a two-year postgraduate Women in Leadership programme for those committed to working for their cities, we would grow our own talent pool, place them in fast-growth companies and see a real return on the commercial bottom line. Who knows, these cities might triumph in exceeding the Davis Review target and put a marker in the ground as being truly ambitious.

louise@integracommunications.co.uk

Twitter: @integracomms

Pupils from two Stoke schools are among the first Midlands students to graduate as Industrial Cadets, an initiative launched by HRH The Prince of Wales and co-ordinated by national education charity EDT to link schools and local industry. Twenty four students from Haywood Engineering College and the Co-operative Academy of Stoke on Trent have worked with Steelite PLC and a consortium of companies convened by The Prince of Wales’ charity Business in the Community (BITC). Their graduation as Industrial Cadets is to be held on Monday 25^th March in the Board Room of Port Vale Football Club from 2.30pm.

Industrial Cadets enables school pupils in years 8 and 9 (ages 12-14) to find out more about local industry, in particular learning about career opportunities and how the science and maths subjects they study are applied in the commercial world. The students have been working with the companies on a series of company activities which allow them to gain an understanding of the different aspects of a business, from production to finance and marketing. The consortium convened by BITC included Michelin Tyre PLC, Dudson, Seddon, McCamley UK Ltd, and Keele University.

Andrew Stanier, Principal of the Co-operative Academy of Stoke on Trent says,

“By taking part in Industrial Cadets the students gain experience of applying the learning that has taken place in the Academy in real life situations. They also have an understanding of the wide range of opportunities that are available within local companies, rather than the limited view that a company just has one employment opportunity.

The programme helps to improve students’ skills and raises students’ aspirations by placing them in situations where they work with students from another school, and with representatives of the companies. By engaging Year 9 students in the project it provides a motivational impetus as they prepare for their GCSE courses.”

 The reaction of pupils emphasises the value of Industrial Cadets:

Imogen Allanson from Haywood Engineering College says,

“I have enjoyed visiting the different companies and seeing how they work. There are so many different roles within each company and there are a vast number of different jobs involved.   I never realised before just how many different jobs and careers there will be available to me when I leave school.”  

Liam Hall from the Co-operative Academy of Stoke on Trent says Industrial Cadets has influenced his career ideas,

“I really enjoyed doing the Industrial Cadets programme as it allowed me to explore the world of work. I think I would like to get a job in Engineering and Manufacturing”

Lesley Heath from Haywood Engineering College has particularly appreciated the personal skills she has developed,

“I have learnt how to be part of a team and I have gained organisational skills which I will need at work.  We had to prepare and deliver a presentation to a number of different managers from Steelite because two different schools were involved. We had to work to a very strict timetable to make sure that the work was finished.”

At the graduation events the students will show presentation boards of the Industrial Cadets experience and will make short presentations to judges including EDT Regional Director Geoff Jellis who is excited by the opportunities for Industrial Cadets to make a real impact on students across the Midlands. He says,

“Industrial Cadets was inspired by The Prince of Wales when he visited a steel works in the North East in 2010. From this initial idea it has grown into a national programme. The beauty of Industrial Cadets is that it is a very flexible programme which can fit a range of different companies and structures of delivery. I am sure that in years to come ‘Industrial Cadet’ will be something that employers will look for on the CVs of potential recruits. The students from these two schools will be able to say that they graduated from one of the very first Industrial Cadet cohorts under the national rollout of the programme.”

Companies value the opportunity to work with local schools as part of Industrial Cadets. They recognise that they can help pupils understand their business and the career opportunities involved. The students can then be inspired to study subjects which will equip them for such careers.

Wendy Dean – Group Human Resources Director at Steelite International confirms,

‘’Steelite International has devoted a great deal of time and effort to the Industrial Cadets scheme because we understand as a Company how important it is to help raise awareness of the inspirational opportunities available within the local manufacturing and industrial sectors.’’

Ervin Davis, Strategic Support Director at Dudson says,

“As a manufacturing company, like many others, we are facing a skills gap in the areas of mechanical and electrical engineering, which threatens our ability to maintain the factories’ manufacturing plant and machinery to the highest standards. Industrial Cadets, engaging with young people making decisions about their future direction and ultimately their career choices, enables industry to demonstrate that there are interesting and satisfying careers in engineering and manufacturing companies.

With the programme taking place in the centre of our recruitment catchment area we would hope to see graduates of the programme applying for apprenticeships in due course, or other for positions later on should they decide on a more academic further education route.”

Mike Cole Head of Community Involvement at Michelin Tyres emphasises the national importance of Industrial Cadets

“We in this country find ourselves in very difficult economic times, if the economy is to grow and flourish again it will depend to a great deal on the ability of our manufacturing sector to find new customers in the emerging markets and meet their requirements. To this end we need a skilled and enthusiastic workforce going forward and it is therefore imperative that young people are encouraged to find out more about the industrial sector and all the interesting and exciting opportunities it can provide. Industrial Cadets is an excellent way of doing this and we at Michelin are proud to be involved with this excellent initiative”

The launch of the IMI European Lead Factory was a pan European Pharma story involving the biggest pharma companies and companies and institutions across Europe.

It was however the TV coverage for the involvement of BioCity Scotland that we generated by liaising with the Scottish government that grabbed everyone’s attention.

No wonder TV is the holy grail when it comes to coverage.

On Tuesday nearly 90 Year 8 school children from the Solent area are set to tackle tough team building challenges set by the Royal Navy at HMS Collingwood in Fareham. However these challenges will be nothing compared to the task they face in the following 10 weeks as they use their mental and team work strengths to compete in 15 teams to produce the best project which tackles the issues that they would face if their school was an island.

Pupils from a range of Hampshire schools are being launched into a brand new competition called Go4SET “My School is an Island” which is being run by the maritime organisation Seavision and education charity EDT. The schools involved are Bohunt School, Horndean Technology College, City of Portsmouth Girls, Oaklands School, Petersfield School, Portsmouth Grammar, Quilley School of Engineering, Sandown Bay Academy, Springfield School and Toynbee School and the competition is part of the Go4SET activities run by EDT for Year 8 and 9 students. This Go4SET programme has been designed with a maritime theme to fit with the Seavision initiative for Skills, Education and Awareness in the Solent area.

Ewen Macdonald, Director of Seavision explains, “Even in maritime areas like the Solent people can take the importance of the sea for granted and the considerable achievements of the individuals, companies and organisations that enable our island nation to thrive are often hidden rather than celebrated. ‘My School is an Island’ has a double purpose, firstly it highlights to the students all the logistical and technical challenges that have to be tackled anywhere that is surrounded by sea. This includes travel, resources and bi-product disposal. Imagining a small community like a school as an island enables the students to appreciate those issues for bigger islands such as the Isle of Wight or on a much larger scale, Britain itself.

The second purpose of “My School is an Island” is to allow students to see the practical application of science, technology, engineering and maths in overcoming the challenges of being an island, enabling the students to see these subjects, not simply as academic tasks but as very real contributors to harnessing the world around them. We hope that this exposure to school subjects in a real world environment will encourage the students to consider building a career on these subjects.”

The competition being launched on Tuesday is the very first of this Go4SET programme which is intended to be rolled out in maritime areas across the country. Go4SET is run by EDT and engages over 2,500 Year 8 and 9 students each year. The project work takes place outside school hours and, as well as being guided by a teacher, each team will have a mentor from a local company who can help them relate their studies to real world problems and enables them to meet someone who is using science and engineering subjects in their jobs. Local companies providing mentors to the teams in the Go4SET “My School is an Island” competition include AB Ports Southampton, Babcock, DP World Southampton, Finmeccanica, Raymarine, Red Funnel, Royal Navy, Selex, and the Society for Underwater Technology.

The launch event on Tuesday sees the students all come together at HMS Collingwood and use the impressive facilities of the centre, both indoor and outdoor, for an action packed day of activities which will see the students, teachers and mentors all take part in Team Building Exercises across the site together with project specific presentations and planning sessions.

Stephen Shaw of Quilley School of Engineering, Eastleigh says, “The Go4SET‘My school is an island project’ is a fantastic way of capturing the imagination of the students to see the relevance of science, technology, engineering and maths to everyday life. The awareness they will gain of local maritime industries will also help inspire them as they consider their future careers and the opportunities that exist in their home area.”

Clive Thomas of Associated British Ports Southampton is keen to support the project saying, “The future strength of industry in the Solent area is dependent on ensuring that there are plenty of future recruits with a passion for the science and engineering disciplines which allow the local maritime industries to thrive. It is important that companies like ours play a role in helping students make the connection between their school subjects and interesting and challenging jobs in local industry.”

/ENDS

Photography will be available after the event from the media contact below.
Interviews with Ewen Macdonald of Seavision and Chris Ward of EDT can be organised through the media contact below.
Attendance: Media wishing to visit the launch at HMS Collingwood must make contact via the media contact below to ensure admittance.

Media Contact:
Andrew Third, Integra Communications Ltd,
Andrew@integracommunications.co.uk
0115 912 4350
07917691532

Notes for Editors:

About Seavision

Seavision is a not-for- profit organisation promoting awareness of the maritime/marine sector amongst 11 to 22 year olds by means of educational and career related activities. Drawing support from across the diverse composition of Britain’s maritime, Lead Partners are The UK Chamber of Shipping, Lloyd’s Register Foundation, the Royal Navy, Seafarers UK and Trinity House. Both Maritime UK and The Marine Industries Alliance – the two major sector cluster organisations -endorse Seavision’s work.

A range of educationally focussed interactions for secondary schools feature within the Skills, Education and Awareness (SEA) programme, ranging from Maritime Taster Days onboard ship to curriculum based activities and projects. A virtual sector online introduces the out of sight out of mind world of the maritime in an informal and informative way, including bespoke educational content.

Seavision seeks to unite the youth of today with the maritime opportunities of tomorrow.
www.seavision.org.uk

About EDT
The EDT is a nationwide education charity and the leading organisation working to inspire young people into careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through business/education links. Having worked in this area for 25 years and having national reach, EDT is expert in encouraging students to focus on the opportunities that STEM careers can offer. EDT Programmes include First Edition, Go4SET, Open Industry, Engineering Education Scheme, Headstart, The Year in Industry and Industrial Cadets.
Informing Choice: The EDT works in partnership with schools, colleges, universities and businesses to allow students from the age of eleven through to graduate level to interact with people in businesses that rely on STEM skills, providing them with the insights and role models that will allow them to make informed subject choices throughout their academic/vocational pathway.

Programmes can be as short as one day or as long as a year and currently engage around 25,000 students each year. The EDT has a strong base of evidence showing the effectiveness of these programmes in influencing students towards STEM choices and creating opportunities for their future.

www.etrust.org.uk

Major pharmaceutical companies, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and academia join forces in an IMI-supported Public Private Partnership (PPP) to accelerate early drug discovery and so address the ever-increasing need for innovative therapeutics to tackle unmet medical needs.

Nottingham, United Kingdom – 7th February 2013 – The European Lead Factory, a novel platform for innovative drug discovery, was launched today by an international consortium of 30 partners. This partnership, the first of its kind, is supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) and creates unprecedented opportunities for the discovery of new medicines by providing public partners with an ‘industry-like’ discovery platform to translate cutting-edge academic research into high-quality drug lead molecules on a scale and speed that was not possible previously.

This will be made possible in part through access to an exceptional collection of small molecules. Part of this collection will be contributed by pharmaceutical companies, and the other part will be a newly synthesised compound collection built by the SMEs and academic institutions using the integrated knowledge of all consortium partners and through open innovation and crowd sourcing. Screening of this compound collection will be performed within the pharmaceutical companies and by a newly-established European Screening Centre. Stakeholders, including patient organisations and global health initiatives, are invited to contribute their knowledge and networks to the consortium to elevate the outcome of the early drug discovery process and to be part of the establishment of a new sustainable platform for early drug discovery.

Pharmaceutical companies have vast libraries of compounds which can be screened in the hunt for potential medicines. Usually, access to these compound libraries is highly restricted. As part of the European Lead Factory, the 7 participating pharmaceutical companies will contribute at least 300,000 chemical compounds from their corporate chemical collections. A library of an estimated additional 200,000 novel compounds will be developed jointly by academia and SMEs. Together, the two libraries will form a Joint European Compound Collection consisting of up to half-a-million compounds that will be accessible to all project partners and to public organisations offering promising new targets for drug discovery screening. These target proposals will be selected through competitive calls.

The chemistry part of the consortium consists of 5 SMEs (Sygnature Discovery Ltd. (UK), Syncom B.V. (The Netherlands), Edelris S.A.S (France), Mercachem B.V. (The Netherlands) and Taros Chemicals GmbH & Co KG (Germany)) aiming to contribute an estimated 200,000 novel compounds to the Joint Compound Collection. Therefore, proposals will be submitted to a transparent selection and validation process addressing several criteria such as novelty, diversity potential, innovative design, synthetic tractability and other. Once approved, the SMEs together with the academic institutions will seamlessly translate successful scaffolds into high quality compound libraries to be shipped to the consortium’s HTS facilities.

An equally important part of the European Lead Factory is the European Screening Centre, which will assist public contributors of novel targets in the development of tests amenable to the requirements of industrialised screening methodology. Both the sites in Scotland and the Netherlands will run state-of-the art-facilities for compound logistics and high-throughput screening to respectively handle the 500,000-strong compound library and to evaluate new compounds that are active against the novel targets.

The total budget for the project amounts to around €196 million. Of this, €80 million comes from the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7), and €91 million is provided as in-kind contributions from the participating companies that are members of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). The remaining €25 million comes from other contributions from the non-EFPIA participants.

If the project proves successful during its initial 5 year funding period, the European Screening Centre and the teams of SMEs, and academic institutions aim for a sustainable role in drug discovery and the future growth of drug development in Europe.

Dr Simon Hirst, Chief Executive Officer, Sygnature Discovery said: “Sygnature is delighted to be a part of this unique and historic collaboration. The combination of excellent academic science with industrial drug discovery know how has been a long term objective of Sygnature Discovery and it is excellent news that we will be working closely with our colleagues at the University of Nottingham, BioCity Scotland and others. This initiative has the potential to be transformational for drug discovery in Europe and should create a new engine for modern discovery. Long-term benefits will hopefully include improved medicines and a strong industrial-academic network with unique expertise.”

Notes to Editors

About the Innovative Medicines Initiative
The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is the world’s largest public-private partnership in health. IMI is improving the environment for pharmaceutical innovation in Europe by engaging and supporting networks of industrial and academic experts in collaborative research projects. The European Union contributes €1 billion to the IMI research programme, and this is matched by in kind contributions worth at least another €1 billion from the member companies of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). The Innovative Medicines Initiative currently supports 40 projects, many of which are already producing impressive results. The projects all address major bottlenecks in drug development, and so will accelerate the development of safer and more effective treatments for patients. More info on IMI: www.imi.europa.eu

The research leading to these results has received support from the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking under grant agreement n° 115489, resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies’ in kind contribution. More information: http://www.imi.europa.eu/content/european-lead-factory

About Sygnature Discovery

Sygnature Discovery, founded in 2004 in Nottingham, UK, is a leading provider of integrated drug discovery services to pharmaceutical companies, biotechs and academics located in the UK, mainland Europe and the USA. Through its unique ‘federated’ CRO model, Sygnature undertakes complete drug discovery programmes and hit finding, hit-to-lead and lead optimisation projects for its clients. The company employs nearly 70 laboratory-based, industry-experienced PhD medicinal chemists, computational chemists and in vitro biologists. Sygnature has strategic alliances with Cyprotex Discovery (ADME/toxicology), Saretius (pre-clinical pain/CNS and metabolic disease models), Pneumolabs (pre-clinical respiratory models), Horizon Discovery (X-ManTM isogenic cell lines) and ChanTest (ion channel experts) to facilitate the delivery of top quality drug discovery services to its clients. More information on Sygnature Discovery: www.sygnaturediscovery.com

Contact:
Dr Simon Hirst
Chief Executive Officer
Sygnature Discovery Limited
Tel: +44 115 941 5401
Email: info@sygnaturediscovery.com

Findings of the 2012 UK Life Science Start up report ‘Realignment’

Press interviews with Dr Glenn Crocker from midday at Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, London, UK

An optimistic picture of the UK life sciences sector emerges from today’s publication of the annual UK Life Sciences start-up report.
BioCity Nottingham, celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year, is confirmed as being the busiest in terms of housing new start ups.
Across the UK, the 291 new firms launched in the study period 2007-2011 represent the next generation of growth-focussed firms, born at the dawn of a new era for the bioscience and life science sector.

At the same time, shock waves from the seismic shifts in the way global pharmaceutical companies and investors operate have led to a realignment in the industry’s business model. Smart, innovative companies across the UK can and must take advantage of this realignment if opportunities are not to be missed, the report concludes.

The overall picture is of an industry shaping up well to capitalise on strong UK geographic bioscience clusters, the shift to more specialist service companies, new models for R&D collaboration and the introduction of a raft of new funding initiatives. Scotland emerges as the leading location for life science start-up companies, assisted in part by strong public sector support and investment as well as an extensive Angle investor network.

The UK Life Science Start-up report 2012 is the third comprehensive study of early stage life science firms. This new study considers companies formed in the period 2007-2011 and allows a comparison with the findings of the 2010 report which looked at the period 2005-2009 and the 2011 report of the period 2006-2010. The analysis of extensive data provides a valuable insight into where the new life science start-ups are coming from, what fields they specialise in, apparent barriers to growth and the investment climate they operate in.

Author of the report and CEO of BioCity, Dr Glenn Crocker will explain these findings in his presentation to the gathering of life science industry experts at the 2012 Genesis conference in London on 13th December. The report findings add to the considerable weight of evidence now available to Government, regional authorities, financial institutions and the life science industry itself to make important informed decisions.

Key report findings:

- At 291, the number of new companies formed in the 5 year period to 2011 remains flat compared to the period ending 2010.
The number of university spin-outs fell by 30% between 2005-09 and 2007-11.
- This trend is bucked in Scotland where the increase in start-ups is entirely accounted for by increased university spin-outs, up 47% in the study period.
- The number of specialist pharmaceutical companies is on the increase, with Scotland standing out as a hot-spot in this field.
- Medical technology and diagnostic start-up company numbers are falling across the UK.
- Over 25% of the most recent start ups are located in a UK bioincubator, and another 15% in a bio or science park. BioCity Nottingham is the busiest in terms of housing new start-ups.
- 24% of start-ups obtained investment in the period 2007-11, compared to 37% in the period 2005-09. This decline could reflect a greater use of “under-the-radar” funding from grants, friends and family.
- The largest fall in investment activity was seen in smaller-scale sub-£500k amounts, down by 23% in number and 17% in value. This is possibly caused by the end of the regional venture capital funds (RVCF) and the University Challenge Funds.
- Although the number of deals over £2 million has fallen by 17%, and amount of money going into the deals has increased by 8%.
- The top 10 investments in the period 2007-11 represent around 70% of the total invested in life science start-ups.
- 86% of total investment into life science start ups went to companies in London, the South East and East of England. This is an increase of 11% compared to the period 2005-09.
- The raft of new investment schemes announced in 2012 include the £200 million Wellcome Trust fund, the £50 million Cancer Research Technology Pioneer Fund, the Index Ventures £120 million Life Science Fund, the £40 million Nottingham Technology Fund and £180 million UK Technology Strategy Board Biomedical Catalyst fund.

Report author Dr Glenn Crocker believes further success relies on companies attracting the right level of funding; building strong management teams, and exploiting the latest technology.

“Realignment, as I’ve described in the report, will enable the life science business model to evolve. I believe we can expect more focussed activity between big pharmaceutical companies and investors working together on specific projects. This will require the direct involvement of universities, partnerships with venture capital funds, the provision of incubation facilities, sharing of R&D expertise and Open Innovation.

“It is our role as experts in the sector to help small start-ups to spot the opportunities from this realignment. We must also be ready to brief investors about new market opportunities and the potential returns. Despite much hand-wringing in the UK, we have an excellent research base and a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem populated by people who genuinely want to make a difference. We can be encouraged by renewed government interest in the life sciences as well as the emergence of new funding streams. We truly have strong grounds for optimism.”

The UK Life Science Start-up report will be published each year based on a rolling five-year period in order to undertake further trend analysis. To receive a copy of the 2012 report email m.knaggs@biocity.co.uk and join the debate on LinkedIn BioCity Group.

ENDS

Photo: Dr Glenn Crocker, CEO BioCity and report author.

Press enquiries for photography, company case studies and to request a pdf of the report:
Louise Third
Integra Communications
T: 0115 912 4350 / 07773 288342
E:louise@integracommunications.co.uk

For a Genesis press pass please call or email Richard Hayhurst
T: +44 (0) 7711821527
E: Richard@richardhayhurstassociates.com

Photo: Dr Glenn Crocker, CEO BioCity and report author.

NOTES

Dr Glenn Crocker is Chief Executive of BioCity Nottingham Ltd and BioCity Scotland Ltd.
He is a director of a range of early stage life science companies and of the Mobius Life Sciences Fund. He was previously author of Ernst & Young’s Annual European and US Life Science Reports.

Mobius Life Sciences Fund
The Mobius Life Sciences Fund is the first investment fund in the Midlands region dedicated to the life sciences sector. It is operated by a subsidiary of BioCity Nottingham Limited and receives its investment funds directly from BioCity.
Mobius provides seed level equity investment into early stage bioscience, pharmaceutical, medical technology and healthcare businesses.

The Fund leverages this early stage investment through a collaboration with Nottingham City Council, which provides unsecured loan finance to investees, and by supporting businesses to use the investment to match against grant and other funding.
Mobius adds further value to investee companies by taking a seat on the Board of Directors and using an extensive industry network to access advice and support to the business.

Mobius will also co-invest alongside other early stage investors, including business angels, and will act as a feeder to later stage funds.

www.mobiuslifesciences.com
www.biocity.co.uk

Programme to inspire more female engineers launched on International Women’s Day.

Over sixty female students visited Airbus in Filton today, on International Women’s Day, as part of Airbus’ new Industrial Cadets programme to encourage more girls to follow careers in engineering.

Under the three month scheme students will study an environmental project with the help of Airbus mentors and learn more about advanced aeronautical engineering and the high-tech global world of aviation.

The Cadets, who are pupils from schools around the Bristol area and aged between 12 and 14 years, met Airbus’ female engineers and took part in a range of activities including project management and teambuilding skills.

Baroness Warsi – Faith and Communities Minister at the Department for Communities and Local Government and Senior Foreign Office Minister welcomed the initiative and the importance of encouraging more females into the aviation and engineering sector and said “Getting more women into industries such as aviation, engineering and manufacturing is vital – and exciting. It’s vital because this is where our future economy lies, and because we need the skills, energy and dedication that girls can bring to the sector; we can’t leave this crucial field to half the population. It is exciting because I know just how much talent and enthusiasm there is out there amongst young women at school, college and university, and we must ensure that they have every opportunity to put this talent to good use”.

“I’m delighted that Airbus – one of our leading industrial companies – has taken such a bold step in recognising the role it can play in encouraging more young women into careers in industry. I have no doubt just how important the Industrial Cadets scheme is going to be to pupils up and down the country in showing how their studies in science, technology and engineering can open career opportunities in local industry. But I’m especially thrilled that, on International Women’s Day, we are seeing an Industrial Cadets course just for girls – and I wish them every success”.

Mark Stewart, Airbus General Manager and HR Director said: “Demand for engineers is growing world-wide and Airbus wants to recruit the best irrespective of gender.
Airbus offers fantastic global career opportunities and would like to encourage more women to follow careers in aerospace not only in engineering but across a range of disciplines.”

“That’s why Airbus and its education partners have joined together to launch this exciting new programme. Industrial Cadets aims to inspire more female students to study and succeed in engineering and encourage more women into careers they might previously not have considered. If we are able to achieve this, then not only will we benefit from additional skills and talents but it helps keep Britain at the forefront of the world’s aviation business.”

The Bristol schools taking part in the event were Backwell School, Bristol Grammar School, The City Academy and Gordano School.

***

Notes to editors

Inspired by HRH The Prince of Wales to inspire young people into careers in local manufacturing industry and with support from the Department for Communities and Local Government the project has been developed for national roll out by the charity The Engineering Development Trust (EDT) which specialises in linking business and education.
The Industrial Cadets programme at Airbus is called Go4SET (SET standing for Science, Engineering and Technology) a 10-15 week scheme, during which students study and research an environmental project with the help of an Airbus mentor. Aimed at female students, the Cadets work towards writing a report and preparing for the Celebration and Assessment Day on completion of the programme.

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Jason Impey +44 (0)7711 063751

Several BioCity Nottingham-based firms had the opportunity to meet Business Secretary Dr Vince Cable on Monday this week when he paid a fact-finding visit to the busy centre for life science companies. Dr Cable was guided round the site by BioCity Nottingham director Toby Reid who described the ten-year expansion of the incubation facilities and why the nurture of new ventures in such a supportive environment is crucial to success.

Former AstraZeneca employees Richard Weaver of XenoGesis and Kevin Hart of Aurelia BioScience talked to the Minister about their move into business, and how guidance from programmes such as the Bio-Entrepreneur School had given them the confidence to go ahead. Monica Healthcare Chief Executive Carl Barratt described the latest innovations in foetal heart monitoring, whilst Gareth King and Professor Steven Howdle of Critical Pharmaceuticals discussed the complexities of company growth in such a competitive field.

Closing his visit, Dr Cable joined Sygnature Discovery CEO Simon Hirst in recently refurbished chemistry laboratories where over 80 staff now provide drug development research for major pharmaceutical clients. The company had started in 2005 with just 7 employees.

Toby Reid said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Secretary of State to BioCity to discuss both the successes of the companies here as well as the challenges they have faced in securing funding. The finance initiatives announced under Nottingham’s city deal with government should go a long way to helping with these challenges. Dr Cable was involved in assessing Nottingham’s City Deal so it was great to discuss its potential impact with him.”