Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst Celebrates First Birthday Tenancy Levels on Track at End of Successful Year
Highlights of the year at SBC included welcoming tenants big and small, the success of its inaugural Open Innovation Summit, launch of an Experts Panel, news of an innovative tie-up with Cambridge University, and a funding collaboration with Kurma Life Sciences Partners. SBC is pleased to have hosted many events and networking meetings for a range of organisations, and is building strong links with the local community.
Reflecting on the previous year, and looking ahead, CEO Martino Picardo said, ''I'm delighted that Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst's first year of operation has been such a success, as we've worked to bring the academic, pharma, bioscience and investor communities closer together. I'd like to thank our stakeholders for their input and ongoing support, as well as the SBC team and our advisers. Our second year is expected to be just as busy and fruitful, especially around the Convergent Medical Technologies conference we are planning for May.'
For more information, please contact:
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst
Martino Picardo, CEO +44 (0)1438 906906
Emma Palmer Foster, Strategic Communications Consultant +44 (0)7880 787185
comms@stevenagecatalyst.com
About Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst is the UK’s first open innovation bioscience campus, pioneering a unique culture to drive early stage bioscience technology and company development, and building a thriving community. It is backed by £38m of funding from its founding partners – GlaxoSmithKline, the Wellcome Trust, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Technology Strategy Board and the former East of England Development Agency. Consisting of an Incubator, an Accelerator and a Hub, covering 60,000 sq ft of laboratory, office and networking space, the independent facility houses a range of companies, from virtual and start-up firms to those which are more established, as well as other organisations. Located on the GlaxoSmithKline Stevenage site, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst is in the unique position of operating in proximity to the expertise and resources of a major pharmaceutical company, close to both London and Cambridge. For more information, please go to www.stevenagecatalyst.com.
About Open Innovation
Firms using Open Innovation (OI) combine their own R&D with externally sourced ideas and expertise. OI is characterised by highly effective use of connections and networks to exchange knowledge and ideas, external partners being involved at all stages of product development, equitable win-win business relationships, and new business models to maximise the value of intellectual property and other assets. Examples in various sectors have shown that the benefits of OI include reduced time to market for new products and services, access to new markets, improved innovation success rates and increased profits. SBC will promote use of Open Innovation within the life sciences sector, connecting SMEs with an active network consisting of GlaxoSmithKline and its other stakeholders, academia, charities, other businesses and funding bodies. The term ‘Open Innovation’ and related research into its practice have been developed extensively by Professor Henry Chesbrough, Executive Director of the Program in Open Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley (http://openinnovation.berkeley.edu).
About Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst's stakeholders
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst's stakeholders are GlaxoSmithKline (www.gsk.com), the Wellcome Trust (www.wellcome.ac.uk), the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (www.bis.gov.uk), the Technology Strategy Board (www.innovateuk.org) and the former East of England Development Agency (www.eeda.org.uk)