Babraham Research Campus wins EEDA Capital Equipment Grant to accelerate drug discovery

16 February 2010

Babraham Bioscience Technologies (BBT) has won a grant of £321,763 from the East of England Development Agency's (EEDA) capital equipment competition to provide equipment that will support drug discovery and biomedical innovation in the region. Bioscience organisations across the East of England will have access to the equipment, which will be a valuable addition to the existing expertise and capability within Babraham's Technology Development Lab (TDL) established at the BBSRC–funded Babraham Institute.

Access to cost-effective specialist equipment on flexible terms is a critical need of growing companies and is a unique offering within the Babraham Bioincubator. The funds will be used to purchase a Biacore T100, a new screening instrument to exploit therapeutic and diagnostic targets that will be particularly useful for the development of biological therapeutics as well as for discovering new drugs. The equipment will be maintained in BBT's TDL, an open access facility that provides an alternative to outsourcing through direct access to drug discovery equipment. Partners supporting BBT's bid to secure and maximise the use of this new equipment for regional SMEs were Antitope Limited, ERBI Limited and Senexis Limited, all residents of Babraham's Bioincubator.

Mark Treherne of Senexis, the consortium's Chairman, commented, "We believe that that this new state-of-the-art device will unlock untapped potential from within the companies that use it. We all now look forward to being able exploit this new device to accelerate the discovery of novel drugs, antibodies and diagnostics towards commercialisation."

Derek Jones, Chief Executive of BBT said, "We are delighted that we have been able to secure this funding from EEDA and this will further enhance the Technology Development Laboratory resources we have available to support bioscience enterprise and innovation in the East of England. The principle of scientific and commercial collaboration at the Babraham Research Campus is exemplified by this initiative where campus companies, led by BBT, united as a consortium to bring about the acquisition and management of equipment that will benefit early-stage companies in the region."

The TDL is a fully-equipped biology and chemistry laboratory, which fast tracks early-stage concepts and technologies into viable commercial propositions and provides a comprehensive range of services to the early-stage drug discovery community. The TDL's unique offering to the region was recognised by the award of £300k in the inaugural round of EEDA's Capital Equipment Competition in 2009; this grant funded a suite of bio-processing equipment for the production and purification of biologicals, supporting the drug discovery community and bioscience organisations in the East of England.

Paul May, Executive Director of Innovation at EEDA said, "Bioscience has been identified as a pivotal sector in driving UK plc out of recession, and the East of England has heritage and growing strengths in this field, spearheaded by the Babraham Research Campus. Here at EEDA, we understand the economic imperative of funding those who are just beginning to succeed in their chosen industry, which is why this capital equipment competition is so important. It really enabled us to select focal points across the region, like Babraham, where EEDA could invest in the 'infrastructure' that ambitious, early-stage bioscience companies need to take them to the next level and move their concepts closer to market success."

The addition of the Biacore brings new capabilities to the TDL for screening and a quality control platform to test new biologicals. Dr Emmanuelle Astoul, BBT's Knowledge Transfer Manager said, "The EEDA grant will not only allow us to provide self-service access to this state-of-the-art equipment but also to offer practical training in its uses. We anticipate this new offering at the Babraham Research Campus will be of great value to biotech companies in the region, allowing them to save on both time and cost in developing new products or service development."

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