The Campus will offer each company access to specialist skills, equipment and expertise, to help stimulate innovation in drug development. The hope is that by sharing knowledge, each company will increase its chance of success, while retaining its independence so that entrepreneurship can flourish.
The government says the development of the campus could create up to 1,500 new jobs, most of which will be high-skilled. It will initially be home to around 25 companies, co-located with GlaxoSmithKline on its existing research site, with plans to increase capacity at the park by five times over the next 10 years.
Andrew Witty, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, said, “This park will provide a supportive environment where scientists in small biotech companies can tap into GSK’s management and expertise in drug discovery while remaining independent.”
Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, said the new public private partnership will catalyse the development of new healthcare products. “This initiative will help us achieve an important part of our charitable mission, which is to translate research into health benefit.”
The Campus is being part-funded with £11.7 million from the UK Strategic Investment Fund. The fund was established as part of the government’s stimulus strategy to position the economy for the global upturn by supporting projects in fields where the UK has comparative strengths.
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