Bruntwood SciTech and Thermo Fisher Scientific Enter Into a National Collaboration to Support Life Sciences Sector

Bruntwood SciTech – the largest dedicated property platform serving the UK’s innovation economy – and Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world-leader in serving science whose mission is to enable its customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer, have entered into a new strategic collaboration to support businesses across Bruntwood SciTech’s national portfolio of life science campuses.

The new agreement brings together Thermo Fisher Scientific’s industry support and Bruntwood SciTech’s expertise in innovation ecosystem development to propel scientific research within the life science community, with a particular focus at their Alderley Park campus in Cheshire – the UK’s largest single site life science campus, which is home to more than 250 science and technology businesses.

Through this collaboration, Thermo Fisher Scientific will provide Bruntwood SciTech customers using the Open Access Lab at Alderley Park – a coworking laboratory and shared equipment space – with industry support and access to a wide range of Thermo Scientific™ cutting-edge equipment designed to achieve maximum performance, efficiency and sustainability. Alderley Park’s coworking laboratory will now provide access to a vast range of Thermo Scientific™ technology such as Herasafe™ 2030i Biological Safety Cabinets, Multifuge X4 Pro Centrifuge Series, Sorvall LYNX 6000 Superspeed Centrifuge, Heracell™ Vios™ incubators, TSX and TDE series Lab Refrigerators and Freezers and more.

The Open Access Lab is designed to support start-up life science companies and offers affordable 24-hour access to specialist lab equipment and bench space for businesses working in key research and development areas such as drug discovery, oncology, biotech and pre-clinical trials. The addition of new and essential, lab-enabling equipment will further enable start-ups to carry out fundamental scientific work without upfront capital costs, meaning that they can get all-important pilot data needed to secure funding.

Alderley Park’s Open Access Lab also offers access to additional specialist equipment available on a pay-as-you-go basis, enabling businesses to trial a wider suite of equipment that they may not yet have access to, but are considering investing in. This includes access to the cutting-edge Protein Technology Lab offering real-time molecular interaction analysis with the Biacore 8K SPR system, high-performance Biomolecular imaging for multiuser environments, scalable ÄKTA™ chromatography systems for protein and vaccine purification, and the versatile Image Quant 800 for Western Blot imaging. Additionally, the Open Access Lab features access to Ultra High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spec systems enabling both quantitative and qualitative analytical research. The equipment lineup is further enhanced by the high performance Microplate Reader, capable of detecting luminescence, fluorescence, and absorbance across various applications. Customers can also leverage a state-of-the-art 500MHz walk-up sample submission NMR facility for comprehensive analysis.

Alderley Park is also home to Thermo Scientific™ Supply Centers providing on-demand access to on-premises supplies and must-have materials. 

National Collaboration

Bruntwood SciTech customers now have exclusive access to a nationwide enhanced Fisher Scientific, part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, New Lab Start-Up Program, which will support the growth of life science businesses at all of their life science campuses across the UK, including Birmingham Health Innovation Campus, Citylabs in Manchester, and Melbourn Science Park in Cambridgeshire. This programme includes complimentary membership to the OBN life sciences network of which Fisher Scientific is the preferred supplier. Members can also benefit from significant savings on consumables, chemicals, safety and life science reagents from Fisher Scientific’s extensive range of over 1 million products. Additionally, customers will be exposed to bespoke engagement opportunities with Thermo Fisher Scientific, such as, new equipment demonstrations, seminars and virtual lab design support - tailored to support specific customer needs.

This collaboration sets a precedent for potential expansion into new cities, enabling Thermo Fisher Scientific’s expertise and equipment to reach new markets in the future. 

Dr Kath Mackay, Chief Scientific Officer at Bruntwood SciTech, said: “The UK has set the ambitious objective of becoming a science superpower in the next decade, with much of the success in achieving that status linked to the innovative but embryonic R&D that is taking place in key regional hubs like Alderley Park today. These young, entrepreneurial businesses need to be nurtured, which is why we continue to provide the specialist shared facilities that fuel growth and reduce their capital expenditure burden – allowing them to focus on developing the treatments and technologies of the future. This agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific will provide hundreds of businesses across our campuses with the best possible tools to succeed, and represents our latest investment in the future of the life sciences sector.”

John Brear, European Sales Director Biotech at Thermo Fisher Scientific, said: “We’re pleased to be able to formalise our relationship with Bruntwood SciTech at a time when it is taking on new investment and increasing its commitment to the future of innovation in the UK. We’ve seen first-hand the quality of R&D taking place at its many science and technology campuses, and we look forward to helping them to continuously improve the offering it provides to customers through our cutting-edge lab equipment – ensuring they have access to the newest technologies as they leave development.”

Founded by Legal & General and Bruntwood in 2018 to support the growth of the life science and tech sectors, Bruntwood SciTech recently secured £500 million of additional investment and welcomed the UK’s largest local authority pension fund, Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF), as a shareholder. Now the largest dedicated property platform serving the UK’s innovation economy, Bruntwood SciTech aims to create a £5 billion UK-wide portfolio that can support 2,600 high-growth businesses by 2032.