The UK’s science minister has praised a decade of growth at Discovery Park.

The ministerial vote of confidence coincided with the Innovation Summit, which attracted more than 300 industry professionals from across the UK, from science, technology, and engineering businesses, plus education, finance and government.

Minister of State at the new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, George Freeman MP said: “The success of Discovery Park is the result of a strategic long-term public and private partnership between Government in London and Kent. It demonstrates the power of the UK’s £94 billion life sciences sector in driving economic regeneration in clusters all around the UK.

“Having helped set up the Discovery Park Task Force and Life Science Opportunity Zones in the coalition government 10 years ago it is great to see how Discovery Park is now a world class incubator of new life science technologies and companies – as this Summit of 300 life science leaders shows.”

Innovate UK, the national innovation agency, presented at the summit, highlighting support for UK companies with a total portfolio of £6 billion of public money. Its session included information on Government focus areas, including precision neuroscience and new agri-tech, plus opportunities for collaboration and grants accepting applications.

Mayer Schreiber, CEO of Discovery Park, added: “The success of Discovery Park has been built on creating the right environment to equip early-stage and scale-up businesses, combined with the Government’s commitment to nurturing innovation and backing for the high-growth industries of today and tomorrow, to succeed.

“Our work has helped foster partnership, promote skills and unlock finance and business support. As a Life Sciences Opportunity Zone, Discovery Park is perfectly placed to nurture a culture of innovation. Life sciences and technology remain areas of priority for investment from the Government, so it’s imperative we unite different industries and academia to share experiences and learnings.”

The Innovation Summit highlighted how technology and AI is advancing exponentially and revolutionising industry.

Attendees toured Discovery Park’s newly opened flexible lab complex which is designed for start-ups and growing companies. The new facilities come with a range of business support services, including an on-site Barclay’s Eagle Lab and Discovery Park’s own seed fund, Discovery Park Ventures.

The summit included a session focused on driving innovation through creative and breakthrough thinking, hosted by David J Hall​, Founder and CEO of the Ideas Centre Group. Experts covered the use of AI and big data, ensuring intellectual property is aligned to a company’s growth and continuing to be innovative. Two panel discussions also took place, covering the digital future of healthcare and food systems.

Steven Roberts, Chief Scientific Advisor at Barclays, gave a keynote speech on addressing challenges in the corporate landscape using innovation. Other key speakers and panellists included representatives from Pfizer, GrowUp Farms, Digital Catapult, Cancer Research Horizons and sponsor, Abel + Imray, the trademark and patent attorney.

Ahead of the opening of Thanet Parkway railway station at the end of next month, Discovery Park has unveiled a dedicated shuttle service for visitors to the county’s largest science and innovation park, near Sandwich in Kent.

Operated from its visitor centre, the all-electric Mercedes Sprinter will take guests to and from the new railway station, with Southeastern connecting East Kent to London St Pancras in little over an hour, and 32-minutes to Ashford International. It will be made available to the 160 companies operating from the 220-acre site.

Mayer Schreiber, CEO, Discovery Park, said: “The new station will be an important part of the Discovery Park story by improving our rail connectivity not only to London, but also to the rest of the county.

“It will also help enhance the work-life balance of the thousands of people employed here, cut down on car miles, and make Discovery Park an even more productive place to work.”

Southeastern will operate the service from Thanet Parkway from 31 July.

By Emma Palmer Foster, Director of Discovery Park Ventures

 

Since Discovery Park Ventures launched last year, I have listened to dozens of pitches from early-stage life sciences companies, most recently spun out from universities.

Being an investor has provided unique insights into how young companies can be taken seriously by funders. Of course, your science must be strong, the hypothesis exciting and with potential to scale, but that in itself is not enough.

Here are my five insights for early-stage companies to consider when thinking about funding and preparing to pitch to investors:

 

Build and utilise your network: Find a mentor – Look for someone who is a ‘critical friend’, someone who will challenge your thinking and help you to navigate the inevitable bumps in the road.

The skills of business are very different from the skills of science. Successful start-ups identify mentors and collaborate with peers, building a network. Mentors can help you to navigate obstacles and overcome hurdles, as well as providing fresh perspective and valuable feedback before you pitch. Renos Savva, Head of Innovation at Discovery Park is the best of the best when it comes to mentoring and supporting new entrepreneurs.

 

A good idea is not always a good business: Put yourself into the mind of your investor and be sure to articulate clearly the commercial opportunity in your scientific discovery. How will you make money from your idea? And who will be your potential customer?

Approach pitches from the perspective of an investor, focusing on the problem your process or application can solve, and the benefits this could bring. All the companies who received investment from Discovery Park Ventures focused on the product and did not become over-enthused by the joy of discovery.

 

Understand the market: Do your research – understand the size of your market. Are there any time constraints? Who are your competitors? What is your next milestone and where and when might your eventual exit be?

An investors’ job is to probe for weaknesses, to identify where new technologies are adding unnecessary complexity or where start-ups have failed to research their competitors. Always take a step back to reflect on the bigger picture and how you play into it.

 

People matter: Much of the investment decision is based on who’s in the team and what have they done previously. The investor needs to believe you have the drive and ambition to deliver, so demonstrate all the skills in your team, not just technical know-how!

Investors don’t just look at the science, it’s an investment in the people driving the business. This means showing your personality and demonstrating that your business ethic is as strong as your laboratory know-how.

 

Know your elevator pitch: You must be able to clearly articulate your proposal in just a few minutes and remember that investors may not have a scientific background, so keep it smart and simple.

Discovery Park Ventures was amongst the sponsors at BioSeed 2023, providing early-stage life science companies with access to potential investors. For participants, the five minute slot provided probably didn’t feel like sufficient time to explain the principles behind their ideas and convince investors to come onboard, but in reality, if you can’t sum up your proposal in less than half that time, potential backers can switch off and lose focus.

 

Harnessing the wealth of exciting science emerging from across the UK is a national priority and Discovery Park Ventures has ambitious plans for expansion. Within three years, we expect to have grown the fund from £1m to £25m and we are constantly on the search for exciting new start-ups.

To all entrepreneurs and early stage companies, this is your moment. Policy and investors have never been more supportive and geared up to recognise life science talent from all avenues. Now, happy pitching!

A partnership has been forged between Discovery Park and EKC Group to inspire more of East Kent’s young people to experience a career in science, technology, engineering and maths.

Discovery Park, the 220-acre science and technology campus near Sandwich in East Kent, home to over 150 companies and employing more than 3,500 people has struck an alliance with EKC Group. The further education provider supports 15,000 students across six community colleges in Ashford, Dover, Canterbury, Folkestone, Swale and Thanet, plus EKC Training, which provides Apprenticeships, community learning, employability provision and prison education.

EKC Group recently became the first further education provider in the country to be graded ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted for all of its educational centres, achieving top marks across all the assessed categories.

Graham Razey OBE, Chief Executive Officer of EKC Group, said: “With many local employers saying they are struggling to fill critical positions in a range of key sector areas, this is a timely opportunity for EKC Group to work in closer collaboration with Discovery Park and engage them with our outstanding students.

“It will also give young people across the East Kent area the opportunity to demonstrate the skills they have developed within our family of colleges, with genuinely inspirational learning experiences across the park. As a leading life sciences hub, this partnership also offers a significant opportunity for science students who may well aspire to be the next crop of talent within Discovery Park. We have already seen Dover Technical College engineering students engaged in a real-life project for Discovery Park, and that gives them the opportunity to develop their skills in a way that ensures when they progress from us, they are ready to take the next step, whether that’s building their careers or progressing into higher education.”

 

Mayer Schreiber, Chief Executive Officer at Discovery Park added: “We’ve always seen EKC Group as one of the country’s most forward-thinking education providers and the outstanding Ofsted results confirm this. We’re delighted to have joined forces with them to help their students get practical hands-on experience in a professional work environment and to help them make connections with many of the companies on site here.”

The partnership’s first practical demonstration is an engineering project, where students used 3D printing to design and produce approximately 1,000 floorplate covers for use in Discovery Park’s offices and laboratories.

Mayer Schreiber added: “This first project is an excellent example of how we are all benefitting from collaboration.

“Our facilities team had identified a need and worked directly with the lecturers and students at EKC Group. Many of the floorplates covering our electrical sockets had come to the end of their lives, leading to health and safety issues. Thanks to the students, we have now a solution to a real-life issue and they have gained valuable, practical experience which will hopefully enhance their future job prospects and employability.”

 

EKC Group’s students will have the opportunity to work with companies on site at Discovery Park, which is one of the largest R&D facilities in Europe and one of just six Life Science Opportunity Zones established across the UK.

The new partnership will provide students with the opportunity to work with companies involved in life sciences and medtech, agritech and environmental sciences, engineering and professional services.

Congratulations to Discovery Park-based eXroid Technology, one of the first recipients of The King’s Award for Innovation for its use of electrotherapy technology.

The company has developed a successful medical device and clinical service, with its equipment manufactured in the UK, and now has an eye on global expansion from its headquarters at the Sandwich-based science and business park.

 

This prestigious accolade has been awarded to eXroid for its work in developing a highly safe and effective, surgery free treatment for haemorrhoid sufferers, meaning they are no longer faced with a choice of treatment options that are known to be extremely painful and carry risks of complications, to become symptom free.

Commenting on winning the award, Michael Wilshaw, Managing Director of eXroid, said: “This accolade represents a milestone for the company as we reach for new heights and strive for better: for our patients, for our partners and for future sufferers.”

 

The company is one of 148 companies across the UK to be recognised for their contribution to international trade, innovation, sustainable development and promoting opportunity (through social mobility).

Mayer Schreiber, Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Park, said: “It is great to see eXroid get the Royal recognition that it rightly deserves, and I’m sure the award will help it take it to the new international markets.”

Following 25 years overseas working for multinational companies and Big 4 accounting firms, Graham Cook has returned to Kent to take up the position of Finance Director at Discovery Park.

Graham grew up in Canterbury but after working in London for several years, he moved to Australia where he spent 21 years in various senior roles at Ernst & Young, now EY; Aristocratic Leisure Ltd, an Australian listed global gaming and technology company; and Fuji Xerox Australia which is part of the FujiFilm Global Group. Graham, along with his wife and teenage daughter, moved to Auckland in 2018 to become the Chief Financial Officer and Director for FUJIFILM Business Innovation New Zealand.

 

Commenting on his appointment at the science and innovation park, Graham said: “The way Discovery Park has grown in recent years and is continuing to further invest is impressive, not only bringing in local life science companies and other businesses but also attracting talent from London and beyond.

“The organisation’s values align with my own – focused on people and a community spirit, there is an inspirational values-based leadership, a focus on customer quality and a mindset of continuous improvement and consideration for the environment. I’m looking forward to bringing my experience to the role, and teaming up with, supporting and challenging the senior leadership team to help Discovery Park meet its strategic goals.”

 

Mayer Schreiber, CEO of Discovery Park, said: “We’re very pleased to be able to attract someone with such extensive experience and I’m looking forward to working with Graham as we continue to work towards our ambition of becoming a world-leading science park in the next five years. Discovery Park is all about collaboration and learning from each other – something our tenants will testify to – so I can’t wait to see what we can gain from Graham’s insight .”

Graham also spent 16 years volunteering for the State Emergency Service in Australia, including as an Emergency Team Leader and Deputy Controller, followed by two years volunteering for the New Zealand Civil Defence (First Responders).

 

He and his family are now living in his childhood home in Canterbury, a short commute from Sandwich. Graham explained: “When the pandemic hit, New Zealand had extremely tight restrictions and it became very difficult, if not impossible, to visit family – including my wife’s elderly parents. We still had family in the UK so it seemed like a good time to return when we were able to. Seeking a role in London was an option but there was no need – Discovery Park has everything I was looking for.”

Discovery Park Ventures (DPV), the early stage life  sciences fund associated with Discovery Park, has made investments in two high-potential businesses, Ignota Labs and Oxford Medical Products. The funding, which  takes the number of companies in its portfolio to six, makes a significant contribution to the growth trajectory of both firms as they work towards their next milestones.  Established in 2022, DPV invests in novel and disruptive technology usually related to  Discovery Park’s focus areas¹ and has plans to expand to up to £25m.

Ignota Labs is helping drug developers navigate the toxicity landscape of drug  discovery with state-of-the-art scalable toxicity screening tools for the pharma and biotech industry. It provides insights across a range of toxicity problems, enabling  improved drug design optimisation from the start of the discovery process. The  company believes that proactive use of its technology has the potential to save the  industry significant amounts of time and billions of pounds each year via reduced  failure risk and creation of improved drug candidates. Also backed by Sustainable Ventures,  Ignota Labs has completed its first strategic partnership and is now raising a  £1.5m seed round.

 

Oxford Medical Products, led by CEO Dr Camilla Easter, has developed the novel weight-loss product Sirona. Excessive weight increases the risk of poor health and is estimated to cost the global economy over $2tn every year. Based on a proprietary  hydrogel and now in clinical trials, Sirona comprises a self-expanding pill which  occupies physical space in the stomach, reducing hunger and leading to significant  weight loss in a non-invasive way. In addition to Discovery Park Ventures, Oxford  Medical Products is backed by Ada Ventures, Nesta VC, Selvedge Venture and OION.

Sam Windsor, CEO of Ignota Labs, said, ‘We are delighted to be backed by Discovery  Park Ventures. Its team’s extensive experience of company building, business  development and fundraising will be invaluable to Ignota Labs as we create  partnerships around our toxicity screening technology and build our offering.’

Dr Camilla Easter, CEO of Oxford Medical Products, said, ‘Discovery Park Ventures  is a very welcome addition to our investor base. With Sirona in clinical trials this is an  exciting stage of development for Oxford Medical Products and we look forward to  working with the DPV team as we progress towards the market.’

Mayer Schreiber, Chairman of Discovery Park Ventures, said, ‘Although very different  businesses, Discovery Park Ventures is excited by the significant growth potential of  both Ignota Labs and Oxford Medical Products. We’re pleased to welcome them to the  DPV portfolio and network and look forward to helping them succeed.

Our new flexible laboratory facility is already filling up, with a healthy pipeline of interest from science companies looking to move in before the space is formally opened later in the summer.

 

Those currently in advanced discussions about taking space include intraocular lens implant specialists VisusNano; neurological therapy providers Optceutics, and life science consultancy firm Martin Warman.

 

A chronic shortage of suitable accommodation is severely restricting the UK’s life sciences industry, (Life Sciences 2030 report (bidwells.co.uk), curtailing both start-ups and scale-ups; however the new facility at Discovery Park’s 220 acre science and technology campus, which will officially be opened in June, offers spaces from 250 sq ft to 3,000 sq ft, allowing companies to scale up as required without the need to relocate as they expand.

 

Dr Joanna Gould, Chief Executive Officer, VisusNano, whose intraocular lens implant is set to revolutionise cataract surgery in humans and animals, said: “At a time when life sciences companies are struggling to find suitable lab space, having access to this new facility at Discovery Park has allowed VisusNano to scale up our operations, while still remaining on the site where we were already established.”

 

The new labs, which have been given a bespoke fit-up by Discovery Park’s on-site engineering team, come with a range of business support, including an on-site Barclay’s Eagle Lab providing a full package of growth services, including mentoring, investor readiness programmes and access to investors, including Discovery Park’s own seed fund – Discovery Park Ventures

 

The £6m capital project has been supported through the Government’s ‘Getting Building Fund’, with £2.75m of funding through South East LEP and Kent & Medway Economic Partnership, and there has been support too from Kent County Council.

 

Mayer Schreiber, CEO, Discovery Park, said: “The current critical shortage of R&D facilities is inflicting severe damage on the UK’s hopes of being a life sciences superpower. Without lab space, start-ups and university spin-outs are being denied any chance of developing their concepts beyond the early stages.

 

“If there is no pipeline of discovery, the science sector will stagnate and there will be no push towards manufacturing, which this country needs for future economic development.

 

“Discovery Park has been able to provide a new solution. The highly-priced ‘Golden Triangle’ is over-congested and companies can find it difficult to locate . At Discovery Park, we are able to offer flexible and affordable space which allows companies to grow in line with their business needs. And we’re already seeing a demand from interesting companies attracted by a viable alternative and our existing tenant base with ambitious growth aspirations”

 

Sarah Dance, Chair of South East LEP, said: “The new incubator space is an excellent example of a project that identified a clear business need, in this case high-quality laboratories and office space.

 

“Thanks to funding from Discovery Park and the South East LEP, it has been possible to develop an environment that nurtures the growth of high-value businesses, and create new jobs which will help us to build a strong and sustainable economy.”

 

Discovery Park has been identified by the Government as a Life Sciences Opportunity Zone, with established links to academia and a thriving scientific community.

 

Transport links and affordable housing have both been identified as factors influencing decision-making by employees working in the sector and at one hour by train from London’s bio-tech hub at St Pancras and with an average house price in Thanet of £353,500 (Zoopla), Discovery Park offers access to both, as well as an abundance of lifestyle advantages including good schools, leisure facilities, beaches and open countryside.

 

It is estimated that the new facility will create or safeguard up to 75 jobs.

This Saturday ( 11 February) marks International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and according to Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, which is holding an Assembly to mark the occasion, “We can all do our part to unleash our world’s enormous untapped talent – starting with filling classrooms, laboratories and boardrooms with women scientists.”

 

As someone who has worked in this sector for more than 20 years, I’ve seen some progress towards levelling up opportunities, but in many ways the obstacles are as significant as ever, with entrenched prejudices still preventing women in science from pursuing their full potential.

 

We know that female-led start-ups still receive just 1% of venture capital investment and that they may face the sort of probing about family circumstances and childcare commitments, to which men would never be subjected. No matter how strong the proposal, women continue to be judged by a different set of values.

 

Of course it is not all negative – when I first began attending conferences for senior science park executives I would be one of only a handful of women in the room. That’s no longer the case, but when I go to events aimed at promoting the role of women in science there’s still hardly a man to be seen.

 

Change won’t happen if we are only preaching to the converted; it will take a significant shift in entrenched attitudes before real progress can be made. And we do need change, not just for the sake of women themselves, but because by continuing to keep women out of senior roles in laboratories and the boardroom, life sciences is deprived of almost half of its talent and potential.

 

The challenges start early, with a failure to attract girls to study STEM subjects. There’s not enough knowledge out there about career paths, and parents and teachers remain unaware about the options that exist.

 

But that’s just the first obstacle. Encouraging women in science-based careers not to quit is also difficult, especially once they recognise that there is an 8.3% pay gap; that the route to the top is littered with obstacles and that combining work with childcare can be expensive and difficult.  A recent ‘Careers After Babies’ report, produced by That Works For Me revealed that only 24% of the women they surveyed had returned to work full time after having children and, of that number, 57% had subsequently left within two years. Meanwhile, their male colleagues whose careers remain uninterrupted, progress up the ladder towards the boardroom and those women who do remain are presumed to have less commitment because they have families, whereas in my experience they have a determination to prove themselves as well as excellent project-management skills. They know how to make every second count.

 

At Discovery Park we have joined up with schools in Kent to run Community Labs aimed at showing young people and girls in particular that science can be interesting and that it has important applications in everyday life, and we are also supporting Discovery Planet, an initiative set up by three female scientists in Ramsgate whose schools workshops are opened up to everyone at weekends, so that children, their parents and even their grandparents can have fun participating in scientific activities.

 

Meanwhile Discovery Park Ventures, which was established last year, has made a clear commitment to funding female-led ventures, including biotheraputics company BoobyBiome and Vitarka Therapeutics, which is delivering combination medicines using RNAi technologies for late-stage cancer patients.

 

Women aren’t just users and consumers of science, they also have the potential to be innovative creators and developers, effective leaders and powerful role models and on International Day of Women and Girls in Science it is worth asking ourselves why they still have to fight so hard just to get a seat at the table?

In the four years since it was founded, Logical Biological, which specialises in sourcing healthy and diseased human biological material such as serum, plasma, swabs, and saliva directly from donor centres and blood banks around the world, has established itself as a go-to company for diagnostic test developers.

Founder and managing director, James Steggles, set up the business after being persuaded by his family and friends to go it alone and put his years of industry experience to work.

With the need to operate from Containment Level 2 laboratory space, James identified Discovery Park after looking for an effective home for his start-up company, Logical Biological, with his search covering Kent and London.

Speaking from his office in Building 500, James said: “Discovery Park offered the space and the all-important containment facilities, and a welcoming approach that made it easy for us to choose to move here.

“Since establishing the company at Discovery Park we’ve grown quickly and already moved to bigger offices and labs twice, with another move onsite on the horizon.”

The company’s expertise has helped it establish a global network of partners to help source the human biological material needed by companies involved in the development of disease diagnosis testing.

Logical Biological’s aspiration is to be the company of choice for test developers to partner with their 12-strong team. A further three people are expected to join by the end of the year, maintaining it as one of the UK’s fastest growing companies.

James, who has a PhD in Biochemistry and years of experience in the industry, felt that there was an opportunity to establish a business that offered integrity, reliability and quality assurance.

 

“The development of high-quality tests, whether for allergies, auto-immune diseases, cancer, cardiology or infectious diseases, require reliable information gathered from high-quality human material. My experience while working in the industry was that the supply-chain too often failed. I knew that with the right attention to detail, we could do much better,” added James.

His confidence has been well-founded. The company now provides human biomaterial to many globally recognised names and often with multiple projects for each ongoing at any one time. Logical Biological’s approach and expertise is being put to good use by test developers involved in a wide range of clinical areas.

James added: “Covid-19 shone a light on the value of diagnostic tests and how they can support clinicians across many fields, which has stimulated demand for the materials we are perfectly placed to source and supply.

“Repeat business, referrals from existing customers and to potential new ones, has driven our growth. Seeing our work, which is at the start of the development of new tests, come to fruition with the tests being launched into the market, gives all of the team huge satisfaction, and drives us to be even better.”

 

Logical Biological has benefited from the talent pool that exists in Kent, and specifically in the Discovery Park area.

“The majority of the CVs we receive from potential team members inevitably mention Pfizer which demonstrates the quality of the skills on offer, and the local universities are delivering science graduates to the area.

“We’ve also benefitted from the community of like-minded companies here with shared values, with relationships nurtured by the team on site, and we have developed a strong partnership with at least one other firm at Discovery Park.”

Logical Biological’s offices within Building 500, with its testing and write-up space, put the team in amongst a community of high-growth companies, many of whom have started and flourished at Discovery Park.

 

James concluded: “Being among business owners and scientists who are open to collaborate here means that Discovery Park is a great environment in which to grow.

“I am delighted about how great the last four years have turned out. Our success has been built on doing things right through integrity and reliability and an extreme commitment to our customers.”

The team has also benefitted from the work-life balance offered by Discovery Park and living in Kent. James frequently commutes by train from Whitstable to Ramsgate and then cycles to work through Pegwell Bay nature reserve, with the sea air getting the day off to a great start.

For more information on the company visit logicalbiological.com