Q&A with CPI: Bringing investment to the UK's North East bioscience sector
EPM speaks to Sophie Walton, group director of Academic Engagement, CPI, to learn about the Northern BioAccelerator Partnership, which was set up to stimulate investment in the North East’s bioscience sector.
Could you introduce CPI and the Northern BioAccelerator Partnership (NBioP) please?
CPI is a UK-based technology innovation centre and is one of the founding members of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. We have a vision for the creation of a healthier society, a cleaner environment and a more prosperous UK economy; and a purpose to give every invention the best chance of becoming a successfully marketed product. To help deliver this we use advanced knowledge in science and engineering, combined with state-of-the-art facilities, to enable universities, SMEs and large companies to develop, prove, prototype and scale-up the next generation of products and processes. In order to perform our work, we host several substantial technology innovation centres of UK prominence, in biologics manufacturing, medicines manufacturing, formulations and new materials, biotechnology, and printed and flexible electronics.
The Northern BioAccelerator Partnership (NBioP) is a close collaboration between CPI, Fujifilm and Teesside University – through its National Horizon Centre – with a focus on promoting the North East – specifically Tees Valley and Darlington Central Park – as a key area for companies to access research, training and manufacturing excellence for bioprocessing in the UK.
The North East has a long history of industrial, chemical and biological manufacturing. While there are other areas of the UK that focus on certain aspects of biotechnology and life sciences research and development, we believe that this partnership is located where these more applied and industry-focused skill sets can be leveraged. This is being accomplished through the specialist skills provision and research taking place at the National Horizon Centre, through innovation and development at CPI, and development and manufacturing at Fujifilm. Through this partnership we have ambitions to generate significant inward investment, creating and augmenting a strong bioscience cluster in the North East, ultimately accelerating economic growth in the Tees Valley and beyond.
What are the reasons behind the decision to partner with Fujifilm and Teesside University?
The partners have a long history of working together on individual technology-based projects and programmes. We knew the strength of Fujifilm as an ambitious and innovative global biologics manufacturer. Similarly, we understood Teesside University’s ambitious plans for the National Horizon Centre at Darlington Central Park, providing industry-specific expertise, training and workforce development in bioprocessing. Combined with CPI’s leadership in biologics innovation and its ability to create powerful public and private partnerships, this seemed to lead naturally to the creation of a long-term partnership with broad, ambitious and strategic goals. It became clear that there was a very strong complementary offer, leveraging the three organisations’ individual skill sets in order to promote the region’s overall capabilities, drive inward investment and create economic growth.
Do you think the North East is an unexplored region in terms of its potential for life sciences and pharma?
I think that the North East has a unique offering for bioprocessing and bio-pharma. The strong industrial heritage, particularly within large-scale chemical and biochemical manufacturing (bioreactors, fermentation, etc.), gives the people and organisations here a different perspective when compared to many other areas of the UK. I think the expertise here is very pragmatic and applied, used to develop processes and products that can be readily and rapidly scaled up and manufactured, with experience spotting potential pitfalls and technology challenges early in development.
Within the North East there is already a strong bioscience cluster to tap into. In addition, good regional networks – supported by organisations such as NEPIC – can drive collaborations, helping to deliver new technology through to manufacturing. A range of different spaces are readily available for companies to expand into, dependent on an individual company’s requirements. The area is also surprisingly well connected, with good road links and direct trains to London in two and a half hours. Teesside airport is now offering new flights and destinations, whilst Newcastle and Leeds Bradford airports are also only one to two hours away.
This view of the Tees Valley being particularly strong for bioprocessing is also supported by its recent classification as a High Potential Opportunities area for Biomanufacturing by the Department for International Trade. The NBioP hopes to build on these attributes, strengthening the offer for new companies to move to the area and reaching out from the three founding organisations to create significant wider collaborations and opportunities.
How important are collaborations such as this for bringing attention to other bioscience hubs outside of say London or the North West?
Especially in times of increased volatility and uncertainty, partnerships such as the NBioP are critical for highlighting and growing regional strengths in areas – in this case within bioprocess development and manufacturing. Of course, each of the regions has their own unique characteristics – for example London has a vibrant private investment ecosystem and broad research base. However, I think Teesside has something unique in its long-standing manufacturing history. Its strong regional ecosystem, combined with the applied and practical nature of its training, research and development, set it apart from other bioscience hubs. The NBioP highlights these unique regional strengths, deploying its partners’ skills to actively pursue and land opportunities for growth. This gives third party companies and organisations something to ‘plug into’ within the region, in order to facilitate their own growth and ambitions.
What does CPI hope to achieve through the Northern BioAccelerator Partnership (NBioP)?
The NBioP helps CPI to continue strengthening its relationships with the partners themselves, helping to leverage the capabilities of the founders in support of third-party companies and SMEs that we, in turn, support. It also helps us to highlight our own strengths and offerings to the region, which can enable us to find new regional and national partnerships and opportunities. The new bioscience ecosystem around Darlington Central Park can increase the number of innovative SMEs calling the region home and accessing support from the partnership. Ultimately, this can help deliver our own ambitions of supporting job creation and a more prosperous economy within the Tees Valley, benefitting the region, and the UK life science industry as a whole.
What benefits do bioscience companies have by being based in the North East?
Bioscience companies benefit from having easy access to a strong research and innovation base, through providers such as Teesside University, the Universities of Newcastle and Durham and through CPI, as part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.
They also have the chance to access the skills and resources of a region with a longstanding manufacturing heritage, responsible for 33% of the UK’s GDP in pharmaceutical manufacturing. There are strong regional networks to tap into, with multiple companies working in the biosciences arena and a growing workforce keen to excel in this area. In addition, across the North East there is a wide variety of business, research and manufacturing space, readily available at competitive costs. For instance, the space available in and around Darlington Central Park can help provide the flexibility and growth necessary for rapidly changing business requirements.
The North East has a strong academic presence within life sciences. How important is the link between academia and industry so graduates can find work within their field?
The link between academia and industry is critical in several ways. In terms of graduates, it can help them find industry positions more easily, and work experience with companies can introduce them to different jobs within the life sciences industry. In addition, close ties between academic providers and industry – such as the NBioP – help ensure that graduate courses are kept relevant. This can be done through both opportunities for placements and industry input to course content, creating students that are more ‘industry-ready’. Schemes like Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Partnerships can also help new graduates find positions between industry and academia, supporting their education while sharing expertise with companies. Links between academia and industry are also critical to ensure research is driven by real industrial challenges and that the research performed can be easily translated and scaled directly into manufacturing.
For start-ups, what benefits do they gain from collaborating with other companies within the region?
For start-ups, collaboration is key. There is a vast array of different knowledge and expertise in different companies and organisations within both regional and national networks. Knowledge and innovation can also sometimes come from surprising places – such as other markets or technology areas. Start-ups have small executive teams - tapping into new ways of thinking, with access to a range of different experts from third party organisations, is crucial to remain innovative and competitive. Strong regional networks are also important to understand what’s readily available in terms of access to funding, equipment and technical expertise, and the North East offers a complete ecosystem to support start-ups in these areas.
What are you excited about the most from the NBioP?
The opportunity to realise significant inward investment for the Tees Valley, which will help to support our region and create opportunities for our people, is one of the most exciting parts of this partnership. I can see how the three founding organisations, collaborating across interrelated areas such as skills, technology development and economic growth, have the potential to drive significant investment from both the private and public sector. I also love seeing small companies and micro-SMEs being supported on their journeys, which we hope we will be able to do more of through this partnership. Hopefully in a few years’ time we will see some of these SMEs move their ideas and technologies into manufacturing on Teesside, bringing exciting new jobs and opportunities to the region.