Baroness Nicola Blackwood of North Oxford, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Innovation, has officially opened the Oxford BioEscalator.
The BioEscalator is a new innovation centre for high-potential, early-stage medical science companies co-located alongside Oxford University’s world-class medical research at the Old Road Campus, Headington. It is one of four innovation centres in Oxfordshire supported by the government’s City Deal.
More than a dozen companies, working on novel diagnostics, therapeutics and platform technologies applicable to a wide range of diseases, have already moved into the BioEscalator, which acts as a hub for collaboration between the University and industry. The tenants have already attracted £43.2m of investment since they moved in, and between them employ 55 specialist and innovative staff.
Oxford University’s Professor Matthew Wood, Chair of the BioEscalator Management Board, said:
“The quality and quantity of world-leading medical research in Oxford University is second to none. In order for these ideas to reach the clinic and make a real impact on people’s lives, it is vital that they are nurtured at the risky early stages – the BioEscalator now provides the environment and expertise to do just that.”
