Expand and thrive
The growth of the life sciences sector means Scotland needs to create the infrastructure for a much larger industry than expected, chair Alix Mackay told the conference.
She said physical hubs were “fundamental” to this and there had been real progress, including Biohub in Aberdeen, which is focused on embedding an entrepreneurial culture in life sciences.
Deborah O’neil, chair of the Opportunity North East life sciences board, highlighted the success of north-east companies – such as her own Novabiotics – as well as Elasmogen, and Taurx, which raised a further $119 million in funding this year to support regulatory submissions in the UK, US and Canada, and to prepare for market availability.
The company is due to present phase-3 findings at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease event in San Francisco this week.
“Entrepreneurship is fundamental to the success of life sciences to ensure it fulfils its potential and delivers social and economic benefit,” O’neil told the conference. “It’s about being able to commercialise fantastic ideas and innovation.”
The £40m Biohub, due to open in Aberdeen next spring, is “the physical core of the entrepreneurial ecosystem”, O’neil added.
Another organisation which has created a new base in Scotland is CGT (cell and gene therapy) Catapult, which has opened up in Edinburgh’s Bioquarter. Jacqueline Barry, its chief clinical officer, told delegates its role was to de-risk innovation, and work with policy-makers, regulators and payers to speed up the development and adoption of advanced therapies.
John Arthur, director of the CPI’S Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC), which officially opened this week near Glasgow Airport, said MMIC provides clean room facilities to help the pharma industry make manufacturing processes more efficient, with the aim of “delivering economic benefit and making medicines more widely available and more affordable.”
He said the two key factors in improving productivity are the efficient physical movement of materials and the effective capture, analysis and use of data.
There is a huge waste of time and money in products being stored for long periods in warehouses, he added: “We are not slick and efficient enough in the supply chain, and we need to use data to do much better – that’s a lot of what we’re doing at MMIC.”
Mark Cook of Life Sciences Scotland said physical hubs are crucial in providing “appropriate places for people with great ideas to move into and get support from like-minded peers, to help you to thrive”.
Central hubs could reduce a firm’s initial financial outlay by providing facilities, advice and support, he added.
Entrepreneurship is fundamental to the success of life sciences to ensure it fulfils its potential