York Biotech Campus (YBC), is marking 30 years of scientific innovation, collaboration and real-world impact, celebrating its evolution from a government research facility into one of the North’s leading biotechnology hubs.
Established in 1996 as part of a government initiative to strengthen the UK’s scientific research capabilities beyond Cambridge, the 80-acre campus has grown into a thriving centre for bioscience innovation. Today, around 1,000 people work across the site, representing organisations spanning agri-tech, environmental science, healthcare, diagnostics and advanced manufacturing, including occupiers such as Labcorp, Abingdon Health and Cargill Bioindustrial.
Key milestones in the campus’s journey have included the formation of the Food and Environment Research Agency in 2009, later becoming Fera Science Limited in 2015, the opening of the site to a broader range of commercial occupiers, the arrival of global life sciences company Labcorp in 2017, and the rebrand to York Biotech Campus in 2020.
Over the past three decades, the campus has supported a range of scientific advances and national priorities, from responding to animal disease outbreaks and food safety incidents to helping scale the production of COVID-19 lateral flow tests. Occupiers have also delivered groundbreaking innovations, including the world’s first saliva-based pregnancy test by Abingdon Health and Labskin Limited’s launch of the first commercially available human skin equivalents designed to mimic different ethnicities.
Tenants on the campus have also continued to invest in specialist facilities and infrastructure. In 2018, Fera Science Limited, in partnership with CHAP (Centre for Crop Health and Protection) and supported by Innovate UK, launched Europe’s first fully flow-through, edge-of-field waterbody safety assessment facility, the E-Flows mesocosm, at the site.
Fera Science Limited also launched a first-of-its-kind Insect Research Laboratory following a £1 million project to transform a 2,000 sq ft storage unit into a purpose-built facility supporting innovative insect science. Alongside these developments, the campus delivered a £10 million improvement programme between 2016 and 2021, investing in infrastructure and improvements to support the long-term future of the site.
Liz Cashon, Estates Manager at York Biotech Campus, said: “For 30 years, the campus has been supporting science that makes a real difference to people’s lives. While the site has evolved significantly, from a government research facility to a thriving biotechnology hub, our purpose remains the same and that’s creating an environment where innovation can flourish. We’re incredibly proud of what has been achieved here and excited about the opportunities ahead as Yorkshire and the North continue to strengthen their position as centres of scientific excellence.”
For more information about York Biotech Campus, please visit: https://yorkbiotechcampus.com/
