51³Ô¹ÏÍø

51³Ô¹ÏÍø marked the start of construction of new facilities to support spin out and scale up companies with a ground-breaking ceremony on 15 December.

The new facility, which will be based at the in Cambridge, will support science- and technology-based companies striving to build businesses that originated with research from universities and increase their impact. 

The new facilities will complement 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s existing London facilities, including its new where the Translation and Innovation Hub is set to open in 2016. 

Professor David Gann CBE, Vice President (Development & Innovation) at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, said:At 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, we have long recognised that to tackle global challenges we need our scientists, engineers, medics and entrepreneurs to work together. That’s why we are committed to creating collaborative environments for multi-disciplinary teams to develop the ideas needed to solve seemingly intractable problems. And why we need to create the facilities for them to test new concepts and accelerate the growth of innovative businesses to put them into practice.”

“Our investment at Babraham builds on existing work at White City, strengthening our ability to support spin-outs and scale-ups by providing the space, facilities and expertise that they need to thrive.”

Cutting edge

51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Babraham facility will be managed by 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College ThinkSpace, a provider of high quality laboratory and office workspaces to companies at every stage of their growth.

The first tenant in the Babraham facility will be , a life sciences group providing services and technologies enabling the development and manufacture of biopharmaceutical products.

Artist's impression of the new facility at Babraham

The new facility will allow Abzena’s scientists and support teams in the UK to co-locate, providing a cutting-edge R&D environment to support the work that the group undertakes for its partners, and for itself, to broaden the range of technologies that it provides.

Abzena’s subsidiary company, PolyTherics, which specialises in antibody drug conjugation technologies, was established with intellectual property from 51³Ô¹ÏÍø and received support and investment from 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Innovations, the technology commercialisation and investment group which started as 51³Ô¹ÏÍø's technology transfer office. 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Innovations remains one of the largest shareholders in Abzena following its public listing on AIM in July 2014.

Dr Eulian Roberts, who leads the project for 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College ThinkSpace, said: Our Babraham development represents a significant expansion in the support we offer to fast-growing and high-impact businesses – not just from 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, but from universities and research institutes worldwide.

“51³Ô¹ÏÍø knows how to create value from ideas, and we look forward to using our expertise at Babraham to support Abzena and other first-rate businesses.”

Derek Jones, CEO of , said: We are delighted that 51³Ô¹ÏÍø has chosen the Babraham Research Campus, located at the heart of the Cambridge life-science cluster, as a complementary site to that which they are developing at White City. 

“The Babraham Research Campus is a co-location of 60 start-up and scale-up life sciences businesses with academic research from the Babraham Institute.  I am sure that being part of our active community of scientist and entrepreneurs, a network which extends beyond the campus itself, will provide a fertile and rewarding location for the companies that 51³Ô¹ÏÍø wish to bring to the site.

Dr John Burt, CEO of Abzena commented:This new facility will bring our UK functions together under one roof. The expanded space with high quality labs will enable us to continue our rapid pace of growth.

“51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s investment in this state-of-the-art facility demonstrates its support for the expansion of the UK life sciences sector as a whole and the strength of Cambridge as an innovation hub for the biopharmaceutical sector.”