Why life sciences is a key player in Newcastle’s renewal

COMMENT: Often referred to as the city of opportunity, Newcastle continues to live up to the title. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the city has welcomed a record level of investment, creating valuable jobs, driving growth across key sectors, and demonstrating confidence in the future of the North East of England.  At the heart of Newcastle’s burgeoning life sciences sector is The Biosphere, where demand for lab and office space means private sector investment is now being sought to build on this success. A location of choice  With a value of around £1.7bn to the local economy, Newcastle is wholly committed to the sector. Life sciences is seen as a key player in the city’s renewal. There is a sense of pride in how it has grown, and it continues to expand at pace. The city is considered a location of choice, with fit-for-purpose labs and offices dedicated to life science innovation, research, development, and commercialisation. Three years on from its opening, The Biosphere sits within Newcastle Helix, a state-of-the-art city centre innovation district dedicated to helping people in Newcastle and across the globe live longer, healthier lives. But demand for similar space is currently outweighing supply, and as the city sees the health and life sciences cluster as a big employer, this will be a key part of the future economy of Newcastle city centre. High-class talent pools The North East of England’s regional life sciences eco-system employs around 8,000 professionals in almost 200 companies, which operate globally from the region. It is home to pioneers in pre-clinical research, diagnostics, rare diseases and healthy longevity, with forward-thinking companies leveraging leading research and development support from the city’s world-leading universities and outstanding NHS Trust.  Collaborative public and private sector projects are helped in no small way by the fact that life sciences organisations have quality support for the entire bench to bedside pathway, including from Newcastle University and Northumbria University – two out of five universities within an hour’s drive of Newcastle’s life sciences hub. Our region’s universities offer a high-class talent pool of academics, researchers, and students across centres of excellence in age-related diseases, personalised medicine, and digital healthcare. There are more than 100,000 students, and around half of these study STEM subjects – the highest proportion of any English region.  Additionally, Newcastle University ranks in the world’s top 50 for life sciences research, with academic centres of excellence at our five universities. The Biosphere also stands in close proximity to the city’s outstanding hospital trust, the third largest in the UK, which has been rated ‘Outstanding’ for the second time in a row by the independent health and social care regulator the Care Quality Commission. Newcastle boasts a unique partnership – Collaborative Newcastle – which aims to improve the health, wealth, and wellbeing of all our residents. The innovative partnership includes Newcastle City Council, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and both city centre universities – Newcastle and Northumbria.  Success so far is already changing the shape of the sector, creating jobs, supporting graduate retention, and raising the profile of Newcastle as a hotspot for life sciences. On track for success Many of the businesses located in The Biosphere have recently grown their teams, through securing multi-million-pound investments and benefiting from the eco-system in Newcastle.  They are on track to see further success as they continue to develop innovations and vital research that is helping to tackle major healthcare challenges across the globe. Among those business is AMLo Biosciences, which has been developing a prognostic test for early-stage skin cancer. The test predicts the likelihood of a melanoma spreading or returning, and is due to be on the market next year. As a result, patients who are genuinely at low risk of disease spread can be provided reassurance and better-informed follow-up care, while those identified at risk of metastasis can receive timely treatment. In addition, Biotech technology disrupter CellulaREvolution, which aims to revolutionise the way cells are grown, has raised £1.75m from a group of investors. The funding will accelerate research and development and strengthen their commercial team, as they prepare to take their bioreactor technologies to market. A bright future At MIPIM, the city began its search for a private investor to build on the expansion of the life sciences sector. We know there is potential out there for even greater growth – a strong pipeline made up of existing businesses wanting to grow, alongside inward investors looking for city centre commercial lab and office space, has already been identified.  We’re looking for a private investor partner which will share our ambition to be a leading international location for innovation in the sector. Jen Hartley is director at Invest Newcastle Image © Nigel Forster/Shutterstock