Press Release

New Investment In Babraham To Spark Life-Saving Drug Discovery, UK

22 May 2008

New investment was announced for a world-leading research lab in Cambridgeshire that will, for the first time, give developers access to a state-of-the-art suite of 'drop-in' lab facilities helping them to create and bring life-saving drugs to the market.

The new and much-needed bio-pharmaceutical services will be housed at the Babraham Research Campus in Cambridgeshire, and will be funded by a £300,000 grant from the East of England Development Agency's (EEDA) pilot innovative capital equipment competition.

Pat McFadden MP, Minister at the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (DBERR) today announced the award to Babraham, who will use the funding to expand its Technology Development Lab (TDL).

The new investment will significantly enhance the TDL's offering, providing a one-stop-shop for early-stage ventures in the drug discovery sector to road test their ideas, and reduce the need to out-source.

Pat McFadden MP highlighted the importance of these new bio-pharmaceutical facilities during his visit to the region on Monday (19th May). He said:

"The message from the recent white paper, Innovation Nation, was clear - nurturing innovation is vitally important to ensure the future prosperity of the UK's economy. It's clear that bioscience, and in particular early-stage drug discovery, is a key industry in terms of the East of England's economy, and the potential social benefits of developing life-saving drugs can not be overstated. I'm delighted to see that EEDA are helping Babraham to provide these world-class facilities to this region's budding bio-pharmaceutical businesses, helping them to accelerate their research and development."

The TDL already offers cost-effective services with fully fitted biology and chemistry facilities. On-site lab experts will provide support and skills training to those using the cutting-edge equipment - such as micro-array spotters and cell culture fermenters, which might be used for DNA analysis, protein production or antibody development.

The pilot capital equipment competition was launched by EEDA back in February. Babraham are one of three regional centres who were successful in scooping a share of nearly £1 million (£891,200). Richard Ellis, EEDA chair, said:

"Bioscience is one of the fastest growing sectors of the East of England's economy which is bringing international recognition and investment to the region. At EEDA, we understand the importance of funding those who are just beginning to succeed in their chosen industry which is why this competition is so important. It really enabled us to select focal points across the region where we could invest in the 'infrastructure' that ambitious, early-stage bioscience companies need to take them to the next level, and move their concepts closer to market success."

David Hardman, chief executive of Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd (BBT) explains that the new and improved TDL will be an integral part of the Enterprise Hub's overall offering:

"EEDA's funding is going to be absolutely critical in enhancing the flexibility of Babraham's Technology Development Lab (TDL), allowing us to cater for needs of growing biotech businesses in the region. Whether that's giving a company direct access to sophisticated labs and equipment, or providing a TDL scientist to carry out development work on their behalf, businesses in this region can tap-in to a wealth of facilities, without having to tie-up their early-stage capital in out-sourcing. We will continue to re-invest the revenue from developers using the new facilities back into the labs, further enhancing the offer, and maintaining Babraham's status as a world-leading research-base."

Through Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd and the Babraham Research Campus, 52 companies have been supported, and technologies developed at the lab have laid the foundations for 3 new biotech businesses.

To find out more about the services at Babraham, visit http://www.babraham.com

Caption: David Hardman of Babraham (left), BERR Minister Pat McFadden and Richard Ellis of EEDA with a protein purifier behind them which is going to be one of the machines the money will buy so the companies or individuals can test their theories and create 'screens' of variants of the tests.

About EEDA

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is the driving force behind sustainable economic regeneration in the East of England: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. EEDA's vision is for the East of England to be an ideas driven region that is internationally competitive, harnesses the talent of all and is at the forefront of the low carbon economy. For further information http://www.eeda.org.uk

About Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd

Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd is the wholly-owned subsidiary and trading arm of the Babraham Institute. Coalescing scientific, technological and commercial excellence, BBT delivers the Knowledge Transfer remit of the Institute through the wider landscape of the Babraham Research Campus, catalysing opportunities for enterprise across the academic and commercial divide. BBT brings together all the elements to support innovation and enable the successful exploitation of research in the biomedical sector based on technologies emanating from the Babraham Institute and bioventures relocating to the Babraham Research Campus.

The Babraham Research Campus is the UK's leading knowledge-driven Biomedical Park where world-class research, business know-how and entrepreneurial excellence come together to stimulate effective knowledge transfer and bridge the academic and commercial divide. The campus provides a unique and highly successful environment that actively fosters innovation and plays a pivotal role for biomedical start-up companies in the Cambridge region and with delivering innovation at the frontiers of biomedical research.

BBT has taken a prominent role regionally, initiating and leading partnerships to promote knowledge and skills flow and has established a reputation for successfully translating innovative science into viable business opportunities through partnerships for wealth creation. This is stimulating inward investment to the campus and contributing to regional development. Building on the success of the incubator model, BBT established a new venture, Aitua Ltd, formerly 'Babraham BioConcepts Ltd'. Aitua works closely with innovators to create and nurture emerging companies from world-class science and technology deriving mainly from the Babraham Institute or locating to the Babraham Research Campus. It will provide seed and early round funding, inject specific expertise and provide access to facilities to companies. BBT's activities support wider investment in the life sciences to generate and sustain growth of the region's healthcare economy. Website: http://www.babraham.com

The Babraham Institute is an independent charitable organisation, sponsored by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, carrying out world-leading innovative research and advanced training with relevance to the biomedical, biotechnological, pharmaceutical and healthcare research and user communities. The Institute's research focuses on the mechanisms of cell signalling and gene regulation, which underlie normal cellular processes and functions, and on how their failure or abnormality may lead to disease. As such, Institute scientists are striving to find cures for conditions where there is currently no treatment or where the existing treatment is not fully effective or causes serious side effects. The latest technologies are being used to study the basis of conditions such as neurodegenerative disorders, foetal abnormality, cancer and diseases of the immune and cardiovascular systems. The commercialisation of the Institute's research is managed by its trading subsidiary, Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd. The Babraham Research Campus is located six miles south-east of Cambridge. Website: http://www.babraham.com

The Technology Development Laboratory (TDL), managed by Babraham Bioscience Technologies on the Babraham Research Campus , offers to early- stage bioventures cost-effective access to its fully fitted biology and chemistry facilities. The aim of these facilities is to help to develop early-stage science into fundable business opportunities. The facilities can be accessed through three routes: Firstly by provision of bench space and equipment allowing innovators to train and undertake work themselves; secondly by providing scientific and technical staff to perform fee-based scientific development services; or thirdly through providing access to individual items of equipment.

This flexible offering is key to the development of proof-of-concept data which would otherwise be beyond the means of an individual or corporate group. It also represents an alternative to pure out-sourcing by offering the possibility for entrepreneurs to train and develop their own process or products.

The protein production and biological assay facilities funded by EEDA will complement the already strong molecular biology, biochemistry and chemistry capability of the TDL. Together they will offer a whole suite of integrated services and facilities linked to the drug discovery community: providing services from DNA to proteins and from assays to hits.