2nd October 2008

The former Boots and BASF pharmaceutical complex was donated to Nottingham Trent
University for one pound to become a centre for young bioscience businesses.

It is a partnership between the University of Nottingham, NTU and East Midlands Development
Agency.

Yesterday, BioCity formally opened the new Laurus Building, the second phase of BioCity which
is already the base for 500 jobs.

Laurus provides 48,000 sq ft grow-on office and laboratory facilities for companies seeking to
expand and take advantage of Nottingham's pre-eminent status as a Science City.

Prof Neil Gorman, vice chancellor of Nottingham Trent University, who is actively promoting
Nottingham a Science City, said: "It brings together the two universities.

"Over the past five or six years there has been staggering progress in developing biosciences at
BioCity.

"It has provided an opportunity for expansion of companies into creating jobs, innovation and
more importantly, changing people's lives because it adds a lot of health values.

"Laurus helps keep Nottingham at the forefront of biosciences. There are very few facilities in the
UK, indeed globally."

Prof Gorman said in turbulent times, it was important to continue to innovate.
"It is what drives companies with new products and techniques, new diagnosis, new therapies for
diseases. We can only speculate that as scientific advances continue, what it might hold in five
years time.

"BioCity can become pre-eminent as a focus of biosciences in this expansion area of companies,
innovation in the UK and globally."

Prof David Greenaway, vice-chancellor of the University of Nottingham, said: "BioCity is now the
biggest bio-incubation site in Europe here in Nottingham.

"In five years it has made significant progress in terms of the number of spin-out companies
created and the number of jobs.

"Science and taking research from the bench to the bedside is really important to this city. We are
now a knowledge-based economy and Science City can help promote that agenda."

Prof Greenaway said one of the ambitions was to create jobs into which the universities could
feed graduates.

"The more we can keep in this part of the world, the bigger the cluster we build," he said.
BioCity plays a part in helping the city to retain world-class research skills, and in helping to
realise the commercial potential of research undertaken by scientists and engineers at both
universities.

Prof Greenaway said there was potential for more than 150 new jobs in the Laurus Building.
Demand for accommodation in the five-storey state-of-the-art building in Pennyfoot Street is
strong.

Early tenants include Sygnature Chemical Services and patent attorney Adamson Jones.
Launched just three years ago, Sygnature Chemicals has grown from three to 26 employees and
now requires 10, 500 sq ft of space. They attribute their success to the environment of BioCity.
Adamson Jones is also expanding to handle the increasing demand for intellectual property,
patent and legal advice from the city's bioscience and healthcare sectors.

BioCity chief executive Dr Glenn Crocker said: "The companies at BioCity are thriving and
growing fast. "To keep pace with demand we are opening the Laurus Building ahead of schedule
and will need to develop further on open land around the campus."