Completed Chemistry Food & Agriculture

Stevenage Bioscience Park

Funder InnovateUK (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst Source-published name: Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst
Funding £5.0M
Period Mar 2010 — Mar 2017

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

A new bioscience campus in Stevenage gives small biotech companies the same access to labs, equipment, and expertise that big pharmaceutical firms have long enjoyed. The problem is straightforward: promising biomedical discoveries often stall because small companies cannot afford the specialised facilities and networks needed to turn a lab finding into a working therapy. Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst fills that gap by pooling resources—shared lab space, high-end scientific instruments, and proximity to GlaxoSmithKline’s R&D site—so that start-ups can focus on science rather than infrastructure. The campus layout deliberately forces casual encounters between scientists from different firms, aiming to spark collaborations that would not happen in isolated offices. If the model succeeds, it could accelerate the journey from fundamental biology to new medicines, diagnostics, or medical devices. The UK bioscience sector gains a competitive edge in global biomedical discovery, and patients may eventually see treatments reach the clinic faster. The project is not about a single discovery; it is about building the physical and social conditions that make many discoveries more likely. With plans to expand the campus fivefold, the long-term aim is to turn a local experiment in open innovation into a permanent fixture of the UK’s research infrastructure.

View original technical description
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst campus is a unique bioscience community created to provide small biotech and life sciences companies and start-ups with access to the expertise, networks and scientific facilities traditionally associated with multinational pharmaceutical companies. A key aim of Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst is to pioneer a culture of open-innovation that will place the UK bioscience sector at the forefront of worldwide biomedical discovery and deliver cutting edge healthcare solutions. Supported by Government, business, and the charitable sector, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst offers a fertile environment for scientific innovation and commercial success. The layout of the campus has been designed to encourage cooperation, scientific and commercial dialogue and interaction amongst tenant companies and also with scientists on the GSK R&D site. However tenants retain full independence and the freedom to interact with any commercial or academic partners. Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst is a joint venture between the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, GlaxoSmithKline, the Wellcome Trust, the East of England Development Agency and the Technology Strategy Board. With long term plans to expand the campus by fivefold, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst offers access to a range of equipment and facilities that would be impossible for a small or medium-sized company to develop alone.

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Original classification

Centres

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