Regional property investor and developer Howard Group is delighted to confirm the letting of Suite 4 in The Works, Unity Campus, located just outside Cambridge, UK to biotechnology company Maxion Therapeutics (“Maxion”).
The 7,644 sq ft suite is fully fitted to CL2 laboratory standards and consists of two cell culture labs, an equipment room and two general purpose labs, as well as a wash-up and store area. Office and write-up space, plus ancillary meeting rooms and a kitchenette complete the suite.
Maxion is developing antibody-based drugs for previously untreatable ion channel- and GPCR-driven diseases. The company is relocating from the Babraham Research Campus to facilitate further growth. Maxion will occupy the suite from Summit Therapeutics, which is relocating its research and development activities to the US. The move by Summit has enabled a simultaneous lease surrender and grant of a new lease to Maxion, ensuring continuation of tenancies.
Unity Campus is well known to Maxion’s senior team. Prior to founding Maxion, CEO John McCafferty and CSO Aneesh Karatt Vellatt co-founded antibody discovery company IONTAS, which moved to The Works in 2021 to facilitate a major expansion drive. IONTAS was then acquired by FairJourney Biologics in 2020. Maxion’s move to The Works means its co-founders will be close neighbours to their previous company (IONTAS).
John McCafferty, CEO, Maxion Therapeutics commented on the move: “Following our successful Series A fundraise earlier this year our team has rapidly grown, with the corresponding need for expanded facilities in the Cambridge area. We are excited to move to Unity Campus as we accelerate the development of our innovative pipeline of candidate therapeutics – with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of life of patients with debilitating disease conditions.”
Katherine Friend, Director Investment & Asset Management, Howard Group added: “We are thrilled that Maxion Therapeutics has joined the Unity Campus community, and particularly pleased to welcome John McCafferty and Aneesh Karatt Vellatt back with their latest venture.
“Maxion joins an exciting and innovative Campus community which, in addition to undertaking ground-breaking research, also values the opportunity to interact and collaborate with each other outside the lab within the Campus ecosystem. The Campus team provide a regular series of networking, professional development and social events to facilitate these interactions and we look forward to getting to know the Maxion Therapeutics team as they settle in over the next few weeks.”
Elsewhere on Campus, construction of the phase 2 wet lab buildings continues apace. Consisting of three new buildings – one of which (Building A2) has already been secured by Domainex – each will provide a 60/40 lab/office split with provision for four ducted fume hoods, and dedicated plant facilities. With sustainability an underlying principle both during construction and onward occupation, Howard Group is on track to deliver BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and an EPC rating of ‘B’ across all three buildings in this next phase of development.
The three new buildings are due for completion in Q4 2023 and are the next available newly constructed wet laboratory buildings in Cambridge, delivering a total of over 87,000 sq ft to the market.
Unity Campus’ purposefully collegiate design facilitates business interactions and collaboration, creating a place where entrepreneurs from around the world work, innovate and exchange ideas. By merging the traditional and modern, urban and rural, business and social, Unity Campus offers an entirely different working environment to other science and research parks in the Cambridge area, creating a wider choice of location for technology and life science companies seeking laboratories or offices.
