19th November 2009

BioCity Nottingham, one of the UK’s fastest growing bioscience and healthcare business incubators, has officially announced a collaborative partnership with three leading US science parks which effectively establishes a gateway into the lucrative American pharmaceutical markets.

The agreements with the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park in Richmond, Virginia; the Commercialization Centre for Innovative Technologies (CCIT) in New Jersey and the MU Life Science Business Incubator at Monsanto Place, Columbia, Missouri, provide further valuable support from BioCity to Nottingham’s growing life science sector. All three agreements will be in place when the final document is signed in Nottingham today, Thursday 19th November. Gene Winter, Senior Vice-President for the Greater Richmond Partnership, Virginia, will join BioCity CEO Dr Glenn Crocker for the signing at the ‘Profit in America’ briefing that morning.

The agreements will enable the science parks to give reciprocal support in a number of practical ways. These include the offer of free workspace for up to a week for visiting companies, promoting the partnerships at international trade shows and within each other’s facilities, extending sponsor benefits to partner park’s tenants and providing access to information on the “how to’s” of entering and launching a product in the EU or US.

On the eve of his arrival in the UK, Gene Winter said: “Richmond and Nottingham share so many characteristics in the make up of our cities. A great deal of our traditional industries has moved into advanced manufacturing, greentech, biotech and financial services. Our science parks cater for very similar life science firms so it will be easy for us to share best practice.”

Donald Shatinsky, Manager for the CCIT in New Jersey is aware that they are well placed to link BioCity firms with new markets: “Having a ‘mentor’ alongside to guide smaller firms through the complexities of US, and indeed EU, regulation will be invaluable. We also intend to introduce BioCity tenants to new markets where we have strong links into other business incubators in the US, Asia and the Far East.”

The Animal Health Corridor, extending from Manhattan Kansas to Columbia, Missouri is home to the largest concentration of animal health resources in the world. Jake Halliday, President & CEO of the business incubator at the University of Missouri says: “With nearly one third of the $15.2 billion global animal health industry represented in the Animal Health Corridor, we are ideally placed to work with BioCity tenants in this sector. Our other strengths include radiopharmaceutical and imaging technology, translational medicine, food production and quality, and energy.” BioCity tenant PetScreen has recently taken lab space in the 33,000-square-foot MU Life Science Business Incubator.

Dr Glenn Crocker has overseen BioCity’s contribution to the support of new life science companies for five years. With these agreements in place, he believes the facility’s influence and reach is now global. “In such a competitive marketplace, our tenants can’t afford to have a narrow view when commercial gains are to be made abroad. Our job is to bring a wider perspective, a cosmopolitan approach to business support. This way our tenants, and the tenants in our US partner incubators, will have the knowledge and local support to tackle the toughest of markets.”

ENDS
BioCity media contact:
Louise Third, Integra Communications
T: 0115 906 1377
E: louise@integra.gb.com

Email for a copy of the Collaborative Agreement.

Petscreen Limited is available as a case study.
Dr Glenn Crocker is available for interview.

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Notes:
About BioCity
BioCity Nottingham Ltd was launched in 2003. The company develops and operates bioscience and healthcare-related incubation and innovation facilities. The first facility opened in September 2003 and Phase 3, in the form of grow-on space, opened in October 2008. BioCity Nottingham is currently home to nearly 70 fast-growing companies, including R&D and business support services.
BioCity operates the Mobius Life Sciences Fund (launched in October 2009) which is the first investment fund in the Midlands region dedicated to the life sciences sector. www.mobiuslifesciences.com
BioCity was founded by Nottingham Trent University, the University of Nottingham and East Midlands Development Agency. http://www.biocity.co.uk

About the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park
The Virginia BioTechnology Research Park is currently home to a unique mix of more than 62 public and private bioscience companies, research institutes affiliated with the VCU Medical Center, and major state and national medical laboratories. These companies are housed in nine buildings totaling more than 1.1 million square feet of space, representing an employee base that exceeds 2,000. The Virginia Biosciences Development Center, the Park’s incubator program, is nationally-recognized and has assisted with the start-up of 68 companies since the Park opened 14 years ago. Three of these are publicly traded companies. The Park’s Biosciences Commercialization Center takes incubator graduates through commercialization to M&A or IPO, providing the Park’s tenants full-scale business assistance. The Commercialization Center is now the home of eight companies from the Israeli life science community and continues to expand its resource base. It has created alliances with leading incubators in Israel.
http://www.vabiotech.com

About CCIT, New Jersey
The Commercialization Center for Innovative Technologies (CCIT) is one of the more significant incubation facilities in the nation dedicated to life sciences and biotechnology companies. Located in the heart of the State’s “Research Corridor” on the campus of the Technology Centre of New Jersey, the 46,000 square-foot CCIT facility offers the most wet labs in the State for incubation. Customizable office, production, and “plug-in-ready” wet and dry laboratory space is available to qualified tenants at below-market rent. One the best advantages of locating in CCIT is being part of the unique “corporate technology transfer” program. This program has been established to spur collaboration and business opportunities by linking small life science and biotechnology startup businesses with major corporations in the State. The initiative encourages a more rapid transfer of discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace, and fosters collaborations with public research and medical research. In addition, the “global partnership” program offers collaborative opportunities through working relationships with over a dozen global bioscience parks and incubators.
http://www.njeda.com

About MU Life Science Business Incubator at Monsanto Place
Opened in January 2009, the MU business incubator is committed to technology-led economic development. The incubator is home to university spin-off ventures and recruited companies benefitting from R&D collaborations with university researchers. The incubator works hand-in-hand with local, regional, state and federal agencies to provide comprehensive assistance and incentives to companies seeking to address the US market from a location in the nation’s heartland.
http://muincubator.com/