Excellence in R&D England’s Northwest has some of the world’s best biomedical research, across academia and business The Northwest has historically been a hotbed for innovation, and in today’s increasingly competitive global market, this constant development of new ideas and products is fundamental to a successful economy. The region’s network of hi-tech facilities and universities has created a peerless array of R&D infrastructure. There are 12 universities, including the research powerhouses of Lancaster, Liverpool and Manchester. Collectively these institutions produce 15,000 STEM graduates a year. There is also an enviable range of specialist research centres, supporting key biomedical R&D strengths including: biomedical and pharmaceutical manufacturing, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, healthcare and medical technologies, oncology, infectious diseases, neurological disease, cardiovascular and metabolic disease, respiratory disease, paediatrics, drug safety and pharmacogenomics (stratified medicine) and analytical sciences. Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine The UK Centre for Tissue Regeneration and the Northwest Embryonic Stem Cell Centre comprise a formidable force in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The former translates basic discoveries to clinical and commercial benefit by bringing together material, molecular and clinical sciences with stem cell and developmental biology. Its areas of expertise include vascular tissue engineering, nerve regeneration, cartilage, interverterbral discs and biomaterial engineering. The latter produces clinical grade human embryonic stem cells for the treatment of a wide range of diseases and for use in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The Northwest’s position at the leading-edge of regenerative medicine is evidenced by the achievements of highly successful, innovative companies such as Epistem, originally a spin-out from the University of Manchester (see panel).
Qiagen gave a resounding vote of confidence for biomedicine in the Northwest when it invested in transforming the Manchester headquarters of DxS Diagnostics, which it acquired in 2009, into a centre of excellence in pharma-partnering. In addition, DxS has also signed collaboration agreements with Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genzyme, Boehringer Ingelheim and Exosome Diagnostics. “The Northwest has a great combination of appropriate skills and talents and a real enthusiasm for the biomedical industry”, says Dr Steven Little, Vice President of Companion Diagnostics at DxS. Another regional success story is Renovo, the world leader in the discovery and development of drugs to improve the appearance of scars and enhance wound healing. The company is developing pharmaceutical products to prevent and reduce scarring in the skin, blood vessels, eyes, nerves, internal organs, tendons and ligaments. Professor Mark Ferguson, co-founder and CEO of Renovo, says: “a base in Manchester has been excellent for attracting and retaining outstanding staff, building a research and clinical development network and for key infrastructure.” Healthcare and medical technology There are a number of organisations in the Northwest focused on helping companies to develop and, ultimately, market new biomedical and healthcare products and innovations. The foremost is Medilink North West, which aims to help companies convert ideas into profitable new products, access appropriate expertise and facilities in universities and specialist research centres, identify manufacturing and process expertise, set up clinical studies and trials and secure funding (see panel). Two exemplars of the strengths of England’s Northwest as a location for healthcare and medical technology investment are Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS) and Baxter Healthcare. AMS designs, develops and
manufactures innovative and technologically advanced wound care products based on the moist healing principle, using in-house natural and synthetic polymer technology. Baxter Healthcare, which specialises in the manufacture of medical technology related to the blood and circulatory system, invested in a new multi-million pound production facility on Merseyside in 2008. The company’s investment was based partly on the availability of skilled bioscience personnel in the region. “There’s a good base of people with appropriate experience in the Northwest because of the strength of its biopharmaceutical industry,” says David Manning, Plant Manager of Baxter.
Analytical sciences The Northwest has leading strengths in high-end instrumentation and is home to both R&D and manufacturing in mass spectrometry and clinical diagnostics instrumentation. It boasts a particularly well-developed infrastructure of analytical science service providers, such as Genprobe and Intertek as well as a range of other major companies in the region including Farfield, Applied Biosystems, Kratos, Shimadzu Research Laboratory, Waters and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Several of these companies have made recent investments in the region based upon their positive experiences of being based in the Northwest.
Drug safety and pharmacogenomics The Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Drug Safety Science in Liverpool is well attuned to working with biomedical companies to improve understanding of adverse drug reactions and investigate how to improve the design, tailoring and selection of drugs. Through the work of the centre, scientists at the universities of Liverpool and Manchester work with leading pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca, Novartis, Pfizer, Merck and with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, as well as a wide range of innovative smaller businesses, to help develop new medicines for the future. Ian Kimber, Professor of Toxicology at the University of Manchester, says: “The centre exploits the complementary skills of the universities of Liverpool and Manchester, alongside those of the industrial, academic and regulatory collaborators.” Also at the University of Liverpool, Professor Munir Pirmohamed holds the UK’s only NHS Chair in Pharmacogenetics, which aims to help secure the clinical evidence needed to support personalised prescribing of medicines.
Oncology The Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) is fast building a reputation as one of the leading cancer research institutes in the world. Part funded by AstraZeneca it brings together researchers at the University of Manchester; the world-class expertise of the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, supported by Cancer Research UK, the UK’s biggest cancer charity; and Christie Hospital NHS Trust, which treats more cancer patients than any other hospital in Western Europe. In addition, Breakthrough Breast Cancer, the UK’s leading breast cancer charity, has established a new £4.7 million breast cancer research unit within the centre, one of only three in the UK. Researchers at the MCRC can draw on world-class resources like the Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre (WMIC), one of only a handful of such facilities in the world, which uses the latest imaging technology to advance understanding of cancers and brain disorders. A new drug development centre is also being established; and plans are underway to expand the Clinical Trials Unit at Christie Hospital, making it the largest phase 1 trial unit in the world.
ASTRAZENECA: GLOBAL R&D CENTRE
EPISTEM: EXPERTS IN STEM CELL RESEARCH
AstraZeneca is one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. It employs around 7,500 people in Cheshire, across several sites. Its 400 acre facility at Alderley Park is the global centre for R&D. The company also has a global manufacturing and supply centre based at a 100 acre site in Macclesfield. Alderley Park has a major focus on new medicines to combat cancer. It also plays an important role, working in other areas, including cardiovascular, – including diabetes and obesity, – inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, and infection research. Alderley Park encompasses a huge range of R&D professionals among its 4,500 strong staff, including chemists, bioscientists, pharmacologists, geneticists, clinical researchers and regulatory specialists.
A spin-out of Manchester University, it was founded in 2000 and moved into the Bioincubator, which provided the support and R&D facilities it required to develop its business. EpiStem listed on AIM in 2007 and now employs over 45 staff with an annual turnover of £4 million.
“MANCHESTER HAS BEEN EXCELLENT FOR ATTRACTING AND RETAINING OUTSTANDING STAFF, BUILDING A RESEARCH AND CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT NETWORK AND FOR KEY INFRASTRUCTURE.” Professor Mark Ferguson, Co-Founder and CEO of Renovo
One successful graduate of Manchester Bioincubator is EpiStem, which provides expertise in epithelial adult stem cells for drug discovery and development in the areas of oncology, gastrointestinal disease, dermatology and ageing.
Matthew Walls, CEO of EpiStem, says: “The Northwest is an excellent location – the expertise, the science and technology knowledge and understanding in the universities, coupled with a strong investor community which can support and provide finance for up and coming technologies.”