Research in the Commercial Sector
Cambridge, and the wider eastern region, is home to Europe's largest and most successful life science cluster. There are almost two hundred biotechnology companies in the region, as well as many large multinationals such as GlaxoSmith Kline and Amgen. A range of professional service providers in the fields of finance, law and technical services support the cluster, and it has been estimated that approximately 25,000 people across the region are employed in the bioscience industry. Much of the activity within the cluster originated from local universities, and the commercialisation of academic and clinical research continues to enjoy strong support.
Health Enterprise East, based at Papworth Hospital, is a collaborative venture between EEDA and the NHS and aims to translate innovation within the health service into commercially successful products and services. Cambridge Enterprise is responsible for the management of intellectual property emanating from Cambridge University, and is involved in all aspects of patents, company creation, funding and licensing. An example of this activity is CellCentric Ltd, a company founded on research carried out by Professor Azim Surani, which has recently won its first round of venture capital funding from Avlar BioVentures. CellCentric will seek to exploit Professor Surani's research on epigenetics in order to both produce new treatments for a variety of diseases, and to develop novel tools for drug discovery.
Early stage companies are able to locate on bioincubators in the region, where they can benefit from specialist business development services to promote their growth, before moving on to larger R&D facilities. Many of the companies situated on the Babraham BioIncubator are involved in research into cell and developmental biology, reflecting the interests of its owner, Babraham Institute. Other science research parks can be found in Cambridge, Great Chesterford and Norwich. Business support and networking organisations such as ERBI work with their membership to provide established forums for technology showcasing and bio-partnering in order to grow the eastern region cluster. ERBI is also strongly involved in promoting stem cell science in the East of England and hosts the East of England Stem Cell Network.
