GE Healthcare sets up UK biotech R&D lab

24-Oct-2019 - Last updated on 29-Oct-2019 at 11:21 GMT

(Image: Getty/maxsattana)

GE Healthcare opens lab space to provide developers with access to protein and cell analysis technologies to encourage networking and partnering on R&D services.

The newly-established facility is located inside the Mereside campus of Alderley Park in Cheshire, UK, which is the largest single-site life sciences campus in the country, according to GE Healthcare.

A spokesperson for the company told us that there are 28 companies already interested in using the lab space, in order to advance their organization’s science and R&D.

The company stated that the facility aims to help small- and medium-sized enterprises at early R&D stages to boost their science through ‘advanced technologies, services and training’ that will be provided.

More specifically, the lab will be equipped with GE Healthcare’s process development and analytical technologies, including the Äkta chromatography systems for protein purification, the Biacore 8K equipment, enabling optimization and quality control of small molecules and biotherapeutics, and the IN Cell Analyzer 6500HS, for cellular imaging.

Moreover, through the establishment of the new facility, GE Healthcare aims to highlight the current market needs regarding R&D services, as well as the challenges that developers face, as well as promoting networking and partnering to address these needs.

According to GE Healthcare's spokesperson, the UK currently is "the second largest biotechnology cluster in the world, with a 65% growth rate since 2016 and more than £2 billion in investments in 2018."

"Northern England is one of the top five locations in the UK for R&D investment and has seen a 42% increase in biotechnology companies since 2016," the spokesperson noted, and added that "given the regional growth of the industry, Alderley Park is the best and most strategic location for this lab."

The Alderley Park spans over one million-square-feet, and includes life-science R&D laboratories, housing over 60 established and 150 pre-start up healthcare companies. Kath Mackay, managing director of the Alderley Park, commented that the launch of the facility by GE Healthcare is expected to complement the existing oncology, analytical and open access services.