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European Biopharmaceutical Review
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Rhona Allison at Scottish Enterprise
highlights how Scotland’s thriving life science industry is helping the
county evolve into one of Europe’s top innovation centres in biopharma
and biotech
For more than 200 years, Scotland’s cutting-edge scientific discoveries
have helped pave the way for many of modern medicines’ most significant
advances. From the introduction of anaesthesia and the discovery of
penicillin, to the more recent launch of the world’s first bionic hand
by TouchBionics and the groundbreaking ReNeuron stem cell trial for
stroke patients, Scotland consistently demonstrates its ability to
foster innovation and encourage scientific discovery. In the past year,
Scotland’s life sciences sector has grown to include more than 630
organisations, employing over 32,500 people and contributing £3.1
billion ($4.7 billion) to the Scottish economy. With an impressive
history, dynamic present and bright future, Scotland is one of the
largest and fastest growing life science clusters in Europe.
A recent report, International Comparative Performance of Scotland’s Research Base,
published in January 2010 by the Scottish Government, shows that
Scotland’s science and research base continues to be among the best in
the world and has produced positive results in terms of quality and
impact (1).
The report follows a similar study published in 2008 and provides
information on the performance of Scotland’s research base relative to
that of 26 comparator countries, which are responsible for around 95
per cent of the world’s top research, and assesses Scotland’s
performance relative to the UK, G7, EU27 and similar sized EU economies
such as Belgium, Denmark and Finland. The data, which is analysed
largely for the 10-year period up to and including 2008, shows that
Scotland has maintained its worldleading position on research quality
when considering each country’s economic output.
For example, Scotland’s researchers are highly productive in terms of
citations per researcher, ranking third in the world after Switzerland
and the Netherlands, placing them ahead of all the G8 countries.
Published output per researcher averages 2.64 papers per year, up from
2.51 in the recent five-year period up to 2006. Scotland also has a
higher ratio of life science researchers per head of population than
other comparative nations.
Research collaboration is also increasing, with Scotland’s
internationally co-authored papers registering a 15 per cent increase,
rising from 3,204 in 1999 to approximately 5,900 in 2008. Co-authorship
with EU partners in France and Germany is rising, as is collaboration
with China and India, but research partnerships with the US remain the
most popular, accounting for 31 per cent of all collaborations. In a
knowledge-based global economy, Scotland’s workforce is well positioned
to succeed.
TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
With its wealth of scientific leadership, talent and infrastructure,
Scotland continues to thrive as a leader in translational medicine.
Launched in October 2009 by the Chief Scientist Office of Professor Sir
John Savill, the Scottish Academic Health Sciences Collaboration
(SAHSC) bolsters Scotland’s patient-oriented clinical research
capabilities. Home to some of the best health service records in the
world, Scotland provides highquality data consistency, national
coverage and the ability to integrate molecular, genomic and proteomic
research data with clinical data to enable greater understanding of the
complex functions of specific diseases. By streamlining the clinical
research engagement process for pharmaceutical companies among NHS
Scotland and university partners, the SAHSC offers new ways for life
sciences partners to accelerate the development and validation of new
biomarkers and drug targets for a broad range of preventative and
therapeutic applications.
EDINBURGH BIOQUARTER
Edinburgh BioQuarter provides a best-in-class environment for
innovation, particularly in the areas of translational medicine and
stem cell research. Located on the outskirts of Edinburgh, this
transformational investment (with more than $1 billion spent to date)
positions BioQuarter as a cornerstone of Scotland’s world-class
research base. The infrastructure includes major facilities such as the
MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine led by Professor Ian Wilmut, which
is set to open later this year. To help commercialise the BioQuarter’s
500,000 ft2 (46,450m2) of academic research space and more than 900,000
ft2 (83,615m2) for commercial research-based companies, two new leaders
have been appointed to the task. In September 2009, bioentrepreneur and
former CEO of Roslin BioMed, Dr Simon Best, became chair of the
BioQuarter’s commercialisation programme, supported by the newly
appointed programme Chief Executive Dr Michael Capaldi.
Recently, the drug development company TPP Global Development announced
it will establish new headquarters in Edinburgh creating up to 15 high
value jobs initially. The government is supporting the project with the
offer of £200,000 in Regional Selective Assistance.
TPP licenses intellectual property (IP) from universities and research
institutes. It has raised £9.6 million, including £2 million from
Scottish Enterprise’s Scottish Venture Fund, to develop this into
preclinical drug assets. These will be sold to large pharmaceutical or
biotech businesses, or spun out into separate companies with the
potential to create more jobs in Scotland. The company has chosen to
set up in Scotland because of its highly ranked life science
universities, strong local skill base and infrastructure able to
support its business needs. It will move to temporary accommodation in
the capital and locate at Scottish Enterprise’s new custom-built
facility at Edinburgh BioQuarter within two years.
STEM CELLS
Home to Cellartis, Angel Biotechnology, Roslin Cells and a long-term
partnership with Geron Corporation, Scotland continues to serve as one
of Europe’s largest and most highly regarded stem cell and
translational research communities, advancing the potential of stem
cell treatments for degenerative disease. Scotland is fast becoming a
premier global site for first-in-human stem cell medicine studies
exemplified by a UK first – ReNeuron’s stem cell therapy for disabled
stroke patients being conducted in Glasgow. Earlier this year, the
Scottish Stem Cell Network appointed its first ever CEO, Kevin Price,
who, with more than 25 years in pharma and biotech, will work across
sectors to improve the rate at which stem cell research translates into
therapeutic benefits for patients.
In May, a team of scientists led by the University of Edinburgh and Sir
Ian Wilmut achieved a breakthrough in motor neurone disease, using stem
cell technology to modify skins cells in a way that will bring
researchers a step closer to finding treatments for this crippling
disease which has no cure or effective treatment. The study received
£800,000 funding from the Motor Neurone Disease Association and is
being led by the University’s Euan MacDonald Centre for Motor Neurone
Disease Research in partnership with King’s College London and Columbia
University in New York.
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
Recently, Scotland made investments to address one of synthetic
biology’s major bottlenecks – DNA assembly. In August 2009, Scottish
Enterprise launched the £2.4 million Genome Segment Assembly (GSA)
research programme. Scheduled to be completed in early 2011, it will
deliver the microfluidic platform for assembly of DNA parts into
biosynthetic pathways. The platform will promote affordable
high-throughput, combinatorial assembly of large DNA segments in a fast
and reliable way and will be licensed to commercial partners in
Scotland and the US allowing them to offer assembly services.
The GSA programme was the result of an extensive market and technology
analysis of the field by Scottish Enterprise – Scotland’s economic
development agency – which concluded that synthetic biology could
affect multibillion dollar markets worldwide and considerably transform
sectors like energy, life sciences and chemical sciences. T
he research also revealed, however, that much of the transformative
potential of synthetic biology was restrained by several technology
barriers. These include the development of well-characterised organisms
that can be easily engineered (called chassis organisms), the
characterisation and availability of modular components, better models
for regulatory circuits, new informatics tools for design and new
methods for DNA synthesis and assembly. In looking at the issue more
broadly, Scottish Enterprise believed that investment focused on an
intensive, short-term research programme could deliver a solution
quickly.
As a result of the GSA research programme, a Scottish licensee company
will be the first firm to offer this type of service in Europe,
reinforcing Scotland’s position in the promising area of synthetic
biology. This company will not only satisfy a clear need felt by
academic and industrial researchers, but also accelerate the pace of
research in synthetic biology and life sciences as a whole.
Overall, the key to success for Scotland’s life sciences will be
delivering fully integrated and proactive support to its research base.
That means creating an environment where public and private sectors
work together to set strategy and deliver results. It means engaging
world class universities in the effort and it means creativity and
innovation – such as the Scottish Academic Health Sciences
Collaboration – that bring collaborations together to make the
transition from research to commercialisation as smooth, accurate and
swift as possible.
Reference
- http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/ Business-Industry/science/16607/ research-1/ResearchReport
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