UKSPA News

Life Sciences Ecosystem at Victoria House Continues to Gain Momentum

Victoria House in Bloomsbury Square, London.

Some of the UK’s most ambitious early-stage life science companies are choosing Victoria House as their London base, adding fresh momentum to one of the capital’s most exciting life science communities.

Developed by Oxford Properties and Pioneer Group, the Bloomsbury Square building has attracted 24 innovative organisations since it launched last year, drawn by a rare and unique combination of high-quality incubator labs, flexible workspace, and a genuinely collaborative community.

Among the latest arrivals to Victoria House is Draig Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing transformative, best-in-class neuropsychiatric therapies. Its pipeline of highly specific AMPA receptor and GABAA receptor modulators are designed to enable safe, precise modulation of the major neurocircuits underlying neuropsychiatric disorders. Working in partnership with patients and their care partners, Draig is transforming the future of neuropsychiatry.

Other occupiers at Victoria House are pushing the boundaries of pharmaceutical manufacturing. BioOrbit is developing the world’s first scalable platform for the crystallisation of biologics in microgravity. Its ambition is to create a pharmaceutical production facility in space to produce higher quality concentrated drugs, enabling antibody therapies to be delivered through injections at home rather than hospital infusions.

Victoria House is also becoming a magnet for synthetic biology innovators, adding another dimension to its growing life sciences ecosystem. AmpliSynth exemplifies this trend, having expanded from a single bench to its own private labs onsite. The company’s goal is to make writing DNA simple, and it is pioneering this by building instant-access DNA synthesis automation, enabling delivery of fully automated DNA production at gene synthesis scale, on-site, within hours. 

The fourth floor of Victoria House has become a vibrant cluster of digital health and AI-driven research start-ups, including Deep Mirror, Caeruleus Genomics, M2M Bio, and Forcefield Therapeutics, alongside clinical-stage biotech AAVantgarde Bio. Also joining this cohort on the fourth floor is EpilepsyGTx, a biotechnology company pioneering gene therapies for refractory epilepsy. Earlier this year, it secured $33 million in Series A funding, with investment from XGEN Venture, the British Business Bank, and a global biopharmaceutical company.

Other additions to the Victoria House community include Cora Biosciences, a biotech spinout focused on transforming the treatment of serious diseases through next generation antisense oligonucleotide therapeutics; Myomakers, a contract research organisation specialising in preclinical muscle biology, which recently secured £325,000 investment from SFC Capital; Implexis, a company accelerating drug formulation development via its proprietary platform; Divide Bio, which is focused on eliminating kidney failure; and Yoho Life, co-developers of application-ready ingredients for biotechnology.

Alceus Bio, the winner of Pioneer Group and AbbVie’s Golden Ticket, is now also on the seventh floor. The award includes 12 months of rent-free incubation space at Victoria House, alongside tailored support from Pioneer’s venture development and investment teams and AbbVie’s scientific and business executives.

The presence of these occupiers continues to drive momentum at Victoria House, further strengthened by London Life Sciences Week in November 2025, which attracted more than 500 industry leaders and underscores the building’s role as a hub for collaboration across the sector.

Miranda Knaggs, Corporate Development Director at Pioneer, said: “Since launching last year, Victoria House has quickly become home to a diverse mix of high calibre life sciences organisations drawn to its combination of premium amenities and equipment, connectivity and powerful collaboration opportunities. With spaces filling rapidly, welcoming these companies marks a critical moment in building a vibrant, energetic and long-term community – one that supports scientific progress, strengthens local partnerships and reinforces London’s position as a leading international centre for life sciences. Through Victoria House, we are proud to support both homegrown and international businesses as they work to address some of the most pressing human and planetary health challenges of our time.”

Antara Woodring Vice President, Life Sciences at Oxford Properties Group, said: “Momentum at Victoria House is growing quickly. Each new company adds fresh expertise and energy, creating a compounding effect that’s driving innovation across the building. What began as a vision for a connected life sciences hub has evolved into a powerful ecosystem, where breakthroughs happen because people, ideas and resources come together at exactly the right moment. At Victoria House, scientists and innovators work side by side, sharing ideas and shaping discoveries together. Whether starting out or scaling up, every team finds a supportive community and spaces designed to help their science grow.”

For more information, visit www.thepioneergroup.com

Member Related To This Article

The Oxford Science Park welcomes new Managing Director

Learn More

Jane Hutchins appointed Interim Vice Chair of UK Science Park Association

Learn More

Harwell Campus Names Agilent as Founding Member of CO:LABS

Learn More

Award-winning Tap Social opens largest venue yet at Milton Park’s new Signal Yard

Learn More

Bicester Motion submits plans for 10-year investment plan to create £1bn mobility innovation cluster

Learn More

Subscribe to Our Newsletter to Keep Up to Date With the Latest UKSPA News

UKSPA
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.