North-East Scotland To Benefit From £40m Life Sciences Hub
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News
Life science research is set to develop at a fast rate in the north-east of Scotland after an investment worth £40 million has been ploughed into the area.
The money will be used to create the Bio-therapeutics Hub for Innovation in Aberdeen, which will become the centre for life sciences development and growth in the future. The UK and Scottish governments, which have invested £20 million in the project through the Aberdeen City Region Deal, hopes it will encourage those in the industry to collaborate to develop new healthcare solutions and therapies.
In addition to this finance, ONE Life Sciences has committed £3.6 million over the next seven years, which will be used to get the hub operational. It will also provide support to help it become “one of the most dynamic environments to create and grow life sciences businesses”, according to the organisation.
Professor Stephen Logan, chair of the ONE Life Sciences sector board, said: “The hub will realise the opportunity to collaborate and innovate to bring forward the next generation of medical therapies and products and our target is to double the size of the company base by 2027.”
The hub will help to do this by speeding up growth and development of the company, providing high-value jobs that attract the best talent for the long-term, and supporting regional economic growth.
Chief executive of leading clinical stage biotechnology company NovaBiotics Dr Deborah O’Neil added the building’s state-of-the-art laboratories will provide valuable space for companies in the region that are already making an impact across the world, as well as those that want to join in Aberdeen’s life sciences community.
“For the first time, all of these companies will be together on one site; a focal point for the commercial life sciences sector in the north-east that sits alongside, and will integrate with, the region’s clinical and academic research excellence,” Dr O’Neil stated.
Foresterhill Health Campus in Aberdeen will be the location for the hub, as it is already one of the largest integrated clinical, teaching and commercial health sites in Europe.
The new building, which is set to stretch over 69,000 square feet, will provide collaboration space, shared facilities for conferences, networking and events, and accommodation for start-ups, established businesses and spin-outs.
The ten-year project will boost an already thriving life sciences industry in Scotland, with Michael Matheson, Scottish government infrastructure secretary, saying it will act as an “accelerator” for companies in the country.
By supporting the project, the government hopes to give a boost to the 700 existing life sciences businesses in Scotland that currently provide more than 37,000 jobs.
So successful is the industry in Scotland that it achieved a turnover of £5.2 billion in 2016, and is on track to reach an impressive target of an £8 billion turnover by 2025, with these figures revealed at the recent Scotsman Life Science Scotland conference.
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