Minister for Universities and Science Performs Topping-Out Ceremony at Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst

STEVENAGE, England, July 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –

Rt Hon David Willetts MP Launches Key Phase of Bioincubator Development

Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC), the UK’s first open innovation
bioscience campus, is pleased to announce that its topping-out ceremony will
be performed today by the Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister for
Universities and Science. The ceremony, a symbolic celebration of laying the
final portion of cement, marks a milestone in the project’s construction.
The incubator now enters its final phase of building prior to opening at the
beginning of 2012.

The topping-out ceremony will be followed by speeches from Martino
Picardo, CEO of SBC, the Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Patrick Vallance, Senior
Vice President of Medicines Discovery and Development, GlaxoSmithKIine, and
Ted Bianco, Director of Technology Transfer, Wellcome Trust. The Minister
will then be updated on progress at SBC and some of the key features of the
project, such as the extensive use of photovoltaic panels to capture solar
energy.

Martino Picardo, CEO of the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, says ‘The
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst team is delighted that the Minister is joining
us to celebrate the progress of this key multi-stakeholder investment in UK
life sciences. We would like to recognise the hard work so far of Mace, our
builder, and the contractors that work with it, as well as the ongoing
support of our stakeholders. In its role as an Open Innovation incubator,
SBC will facilitate the development of a range of companies, from virtual
and start-up firms to more established ones, thereby helping to rejuvenate
the UK life sciences sector. As we move towards our opening next year, we
are therefore actively engaging with potential tenants, academia, charities
and funding bodies such as venture capital organisations.’

Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts, says, ‘The SBC
will provide start-ups with vital access to expert knowledge and research,
strong links with leading pharmaceutical companies and high quality
facilities. This will help them develop cutting edge medical advances. This
important milestone is another step towards sustainable growth with
businesses coming together to share ideas with world leaders. Working
together at all stages will encourage new products and quicker development.’

Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst is a joint venture between the Department
of Business, Innovation & Skills, GlaxoSmithKline, the Wellcome Trust, the
East of England Development Agency and the Technology Strategy Board. The
GBP38m development will be an independent bioscience facility and is due to
open in Q1 2012.

About Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst

Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst is the UK’s first open innovation
bioscience campus, pioneering a unique culture to drive early stage drug
discovery and development. It is backed by GBP38m of funding from its
founding partners – GlaxoSmithKline[1], the Wellcome Trust[2], the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills[3], the Technology Strategy
Board[4] and the East of England Development Agency[5]. Scheduled to open in
Q1 2012, buildings in Phase 1 of the development consist of an Incubator, an
Accelerator and a Hub, covering 60,000 sq ft of laboratory, office and
networking space. The independent facility is expected to house a range of
companies, from virtual and start-up firms to those which are more
established. Located on the GlaxoSmithKline Stevenage site, Stevenage
Bioscience Catalyst is in the unique position of operating in proximity to
the expertise and resources of a major pharmaceutical company, close to both
London and Cambridge. For more information, please go to

http://www.stevenagecatalyst.com.

About Open Innovation

Firms using Open Innovation (OI) combine their own R&D with externally
sourced ideas and expertise. OI is characterised by highly effective use of
connections and networks to exchange knowledge and ideas, external partners
being involved at all stages of product development, equitable win-win
business relationships, and new business models to maximise the value of
intellectual property and other assets. Examples in various sectors have
shown that the benefits of OI include reduced time to market for new
products and services, access to new markets, improved innovation success
rates and increased profits. SBC will promote use of Open Innovation within
the life sciences sector, connecting SMEs with an active network consisting
of GlaxoSmithKline and its other stakeholders, academia, charities, other
businesses and funding bodies. The term ‘Open Innovation’ and related
research into its practice has been developed extensively by Professor Henry
Chesbrough, Executive Director of the Program in Open Innovation at the
University of California, Berkeley (http://openinnovation.berkeley.edu).

About GlaxoSmithKline

GSK aims to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do
more, feel better and live longer. This mission gives us the purpose to
develop innovative medicines and products that help millions of people
around the world. Every hour we spend more than GBP300,000 (US$562,000) in
our search for new medicines that can make a difference to patients.We are
one of the pharmaceutical industry leaders, with an estimated seven per cent
of the world’s pharmaceutical market and one of the few companies
researching both medicines and vaccines for the World Health Organization’s
three priority diseases – HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. As a company
with a firm foundation in science, we have a flair for research and a track
record of turning that research into powerful, marketable drugs.

About the Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to
achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports
the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The
Trust’s breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the
application of research to improve health. It is independent of both
political and commercial interests. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk

About EEDA

EEDA’s mission has been to improve the economy of the East of England
through helping businesses prosper, supporting people to be the best they
can and breathing new life into places. Working with others we have helped
improve the lives of thousands of people with investments that will continue
to have an impact for decades to come. EEDA works across the six counties of
Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk ,
and unitary authorities of Central Bedfordshire, Bedford , Luton,
Peterborough , Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock. In the Emergency Budget of 22
June 2010, the government confirmed its intention to abolish all regional
development agencies (RDAs) and replace them with Local Enterprise
Partnerships. EEDA will close by March 2012. Visit http://www.eeda.org.uk to
find out more.

About the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is building a
dynamic and competitive UK economy by: creating the conditions for business
success; promoting innovation, enterprise and science; and giving everyone
the skills and opportunities to succeed. To achieve this it will foster
world-class universities and promote an open global economy. BIS – Investing
in our future.

About the Technology Strategy Board

The Technology Strategy Board works to drive economic growth by making
the UK a global leader in innovation. Established by the government, the
Technology Strategy Board helps business to innovate faster and more
effectively than would otherwise be possible. It uses its expertise,
connections and funding to enable collaborations and partnerships between
businesses, researchers and government, and to help business to create
innovative products and services which will meet market needs, tackle the
challenges of our time and build the economy of tomorrow.

[1]http://www.gsk.com. Janet Morgan, corp.media@gsk.com
[http://uk.mc861.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=corp.media@gsk.com ],
+44(0)20-8047-5502

[2]http://www.wellcome.ac.uk. Jen Middleton, j.middleton@wellcome.ac.uk,
+44(0)20-7611-7262

[3]http://www.bis.gov.uk. Emma Griffiths, emma.griffiths@bis.gsi.gov.uk,
+44(0)20-7215-5982

[4]http://www.innovateuk.org. Emma Griffiths,
emma.griffiths@bis.gsi.gov.uk, +44(0)20-7215-5982

[5]http://www.eeda.org.uk Edward Palferman, edwardpalferman@eeda.org.uk,
+44(0)7738-697-682

        Photos will be available upon request

        For more information, please contact:

        Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst

        Martino Picardo, CEO
        +44(0)1438-768551

        Emma Palmer Foster
        Strategic Communications Consultant
        +44(0)7880-787185
        comms@stevenagecatalyst.com

        Rt Hon David Willetts MP
        Emma Griffiths, Press Office
        +44(0)20-7215-5982
        Department for Business, Innovation & Skills
        emma.griffiths@bis.gsi.gov.uk

SOURCE Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst