Three BRC-funded projects are to take up laboratory space at the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst in the latest move to fast track the development of new treatments.
The Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst is the UK’s first open innovation bioscience campus, located next to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and BRC funding has meant that UCL industry-reading projects will be able to take up lab space on the campus and access drug development expertise and facilities.
To further develop the initiative, the BRC provided funding for these 3 exemplar projects. The projects were selected because of their commercialisation potential and – together with Puridify, a spin-off company UCL Department of Biochemical Engineering - will properly establish UCL’s presence at the catalyst. The BRC projects were co-funded with by the Higher Education Funding Council England (HEFCE) catalyst fund.
Professor Bryan Williams, Director of the National Institute for Health Research UCL Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, said: “We are delighted at the BRC that this initiative is moving into the next phase. I see this as a crucial move in our bid to fast track the development of new treatments that will have a direct effect on patient care. The arrival of three ground-breaking UCL research projects at Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst opens up an exciting new future.”
The projects include:
- Work by the laboratory of Professors Alexander Seifalian and George Hamilton to develop vascular and coronary artery bypass grafts. Laboratory space at the catalyst will be developed into a clean manufacturing environment for a first-in-human clinical investigation of a new generation of biocompatible grafts.
- A project to use a novel platform of chemistries, developed by the teams of Professor Stephen Caddick and Dr James Baker – co-founders of ThioLogics Ltd, to develop well-defined, stable and consistent antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of cancer. ADCs combine the unique targeting capabilities of antibodies with the cancer-killing ability of cytotoxic drugs.
- Work led by Professor Rachel Chambers from UCL’s Centre for Inflammation and Tissue Repair within the Division of Medicine to investigate potential therapeutics for the treatment of neutrophilic inflammation.
Professor Sir John Tooke, Vice-Provost (Health) at UCL, said: “UCL has made a strategic decision to take up lab space in SBC to accelerate the translation of cutting edge research into new therapeutic opportunities.
“The projects have been chosen because of their high potential to benefit from the collaborative research environment in the Catalyst. The relationships built from such work will foster the collaborative environment between academia and medical science industries so vital for medical innovation.”
Professor Stephen Caddick, Vice-Provost (Enterprise) at UCL, said: “The Stevenage Biosciences Catalyst provides unrivalled incubation facilities for the progression of frontier research, all in an open innovation environment which is optimised for working with industry which should accelerate the progression of these projects for economic and health benefit.
“My team and I are looking forward to progressing our own specific programme and bringing the benefits to patients in the future.”
Dr Martino Picardo, CEO of the Stevenage Biosciences Catalyst, said: “We are delighted to welcome UCL’s projects to the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst.
“UCL’s research in the field of medical and life sciences is world-leading and once commercialised successfully, these projects stand potentially to make a real contribution to the health and quality of life of patients.”
