More companies join AZ’s BioHub
pharmafile | October 3, 2013 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | AstraZeneca, Cambridge, alderley
Half a dozen more bioscience companies are to become tenants at the Alderley Park BioHub in Cheshire, filling some of the space vacated by AstraZeneca.
The scramble to get new businesses to the site started when AstraZeneca announced in March that it was to cease R&D operations at the Cheshire facility as part of a global restructure which will see the group’s HQ move to Cambridge, UK, in 2016.
This means 1,600 jobs will be lost from the local economy over the next three years, although AstraZeneca has consistently said that 700 non-R&D roles are expected to remain at the site.
The shock announcement presented the government with a political problem, which led to the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills working with AstraZeneca and local leaders in a so-called ‘task force’ to find the best way forward.
In effect this has meant rebranding the site as a ‘collaborative R&D centre’ for businesses, pitching scientific heritage and state-of-the-art research facilities – and competitive terms – as reasons for moving there.
The importance of the success of this venture to the government was demonstrated by the attendance of chancellor George Osborne – within whose Tatton constituency the site falls – at the first meeting of the task force.
In May, the BioHub received its first tenants – RedX Anti-Infectives, Blueberry Therapeutics and Imagen Biotech – and they are now to be joined by Gentronix, Cyprotex Discovery, Bionow, OncoTherics, Integral Finance and The Research Network.
“It is great to see AstraZeneca’s BioHub initiative bearing fruit, as we continue to assess options for the site as a whole,” said Chris Brinsmead, the government’s life sciences adviser and co-chair of the taskforce set up to revitalise the site.
“I’ve no doubt that the site will continue to be an important centre for life sciences in the north-west well into the future,” he added.
BioCity, which specialises in setting up bioscience businesses, is handling the running of the site on AstraZeneca’s behalf.
Adam Hill
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