UBS Asset Management and Reef Group have secured approval for one of Europe's largest life science campuses in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, UK.
The £900 mln (€1.04 bn) "Elevate Quarter" campus will provide 146,645 m2 of lab, office, and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) facilities.
The green light from Stevenage Borough Council's planning committee paves the way for the new hub to be delivered alongside GSK's existing Global R&D facility and the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst. The campus will also incorporate the UK's Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult.
The 15-building campus will be set around a central green with an interconnecting network of paths and open spaces.
The buildings for the new campus will comprise a variety of different uses, including: R&D labs and offices; GMP manufacturing facilities; flexible lab buildings; training, innovation, and collaboration spaces
Amenities will include restaurants, cafes, and leisure facilities. There will be three Green Transport Hubs which will provide multi-storey car parking, bike parking, and potential scooter/e-bike hire spaces.
Up to 5,000 new jobs will be created at the campus, and construction work is set to begin in late 2023 with completion of phase one targeted for Q4 2025.
Olivia Drew, portfolio manager, real estate and private markets, UBS Asset Management, said: ‘The buildings have been carefully designed to be at the cutting edge of sustainability and will facilitate world-leading R&D and advanced manufacturing. The new campus will support thousands of new jobs and boost the UK’s position as a global life sciences leader.’
Piers Slater, joint CEO, Reef Group, said: ‘The approval of our new life science campus in Stevenage further cements its position as Europe’s leading cluster for advanced therapies. Stevenage is ideally positioned to attract world-class talent and the campus will facilitate further collaboration between major multinationals and biotechs. The campus has been designed to allow these life science businesses to grow and scale-up over time and to create an open and accessible environment for both employees and the wider public.’
Dr Tony Wood, chief scientific officer, GSK added: ‘New lab space and facilities for the cutting-edge biotech companies of the future are in short supply, so we're delighted to support the creation of a new life sciences campus at the heart of the Golden Triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge.’
Dr Sally Ann Forsyth OBE, CEO, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, commented: ‘This campus will build on the supportive environment created here and our reputation as a leading location for the scale up of companies and commercialisation of therapies that will have a transformative impact on future health outcomes.’
Matthew Durdy, CEO, CGT Catapult, said: ‘The UK’s world-leading life science sector requires constant growth and opportunities. UBS and Reef’s investment commitment, when combined with the existing advanced therapy community which has developed in Stevenage will ensure that the site remains a go-to global destination for advanced therapy developers, technology suppliers and service providers, delivering potentially life changing therapies to patients who need them across the world.’
