FEBRUARY 2018
ON eNews Welcome Welcome to our monthly newsletter where you will find up-dates of what is happening at One Nucleus, our members, collaborators and within the sector. It will also alert you to upcoming events, discounts and opportunities we feel may be of interest. Regular readers will see a change to our eNews as we move to a monthly basis, complementing this with more bespoke event invitations to members for ease of actions.
In this issue we will highlight the launch of a One Nucleus Student Membership category, news from members Arecor and Abzena, the work Action on Hearing Loss and an update from our collaborators in Quebec. Of course, the regular items of ‘What’s, ‘ON?’, ‘ON team talk’, ‘ON member discounts’ are still included and member discounts are still included.
What’s ON?
Corporate Patron
February 14
Building the Life Science & Med Tech Industry between the U.K. and Irvine, Orange County Register
21 M11 Health Enterprise Forum Register 22
Business Intelligence Breakfast: Patents vs. Trade Secrets – What is the Most Cost Effective Way of Protecting your Inventions? Register
28
BioWednesday London Register
Corporate Sponsors
March 20
BioTuesday: ‘Spotlight on Neurodegenerative Diseases’ Register 28
Leadership Seminar – Clinical Genomics: From Exciting Technolgies to Clinical Adoption Register
Media Partners
ON member news Arecor and JDRF Announce Successful Pre-Clinical Development With an estimated 400,000 people in the UK living with type 1 diabetes. Over 29,000 of the above patients are children and with the incidence growing at approximately 4% a year in children, particularly the underfives, type 1 diabetes is a very real and growing healthcare challenge. It was therefore fantastic to hear the recent news from One Nucleus member, Arecor and their collaborative partner JDRF regarding their successful pre-clinical development of an ultra-concentrated, rapid-acting insulin product. The product, incorporating Arecor’s innovative formulation technology, ArestatTM
has potential to significantly improve the lives of patients by enabling miniaturisation of insulin delivery technology. A person suffering with type 1 diabetes will typically have 65,000 injections and measure their blood glucose level 80,000 times during their lifetime. Miniaturisation of the delivery technology may afford patients a significantly more convenient and effective means to control their blood glucose level, an advance that will enhance the patient’s quality of life. For reasons that are unclear, the UK has one of the highest rates of type 1 diabetes in the world so it is doubly pleasing to see a leading
UK company playing a major role in the development of improved treatment. To see the full press release and more detail on Arecor and JDRF, please visit http://www.onenucleus. com/news?id=7588
Abzena Expands at the Babraham Research Campus Hot on the heels of seeing Babraham announce its collaboration with BioMed Realty to address the scale-up space barrier in the region, it was a development already in the pipeline on the same campus that has come to fruition recently. One Nucleus Gold member, Abzena plc, announced that its lease has commenced on its new 30,000 square feet state-of-the-art research facility. The building has been developed by Imperial College ThinkSpace on land owned by BBSRC. It is exciting to see Abzena’s growth, both here in Cambridge and in the United States, and see the
company increasingly develop into a leading player in the field of biopharmaceutical development and manufacture. The facility developments in Cambridge and San Diego exemplify the company’s progress towards their integrated services model in the space. To see the full press release and more details on Abzena, please see (http://www.abzena.com/ news/abzena-takes-new-facilitiescambridge-uk-san-diego/) The facility at Babraham is one of a portfolio of projects where we have worked closely with a member on the design and fit out of laboratory space through the expertise of Director of Member Services, Richard Dickinson.
For more details of the One Nucleus Facilities Management support available to members, please see http://www.onenucleus.com/ facilities-management
ON team talk Aline, Head of Business Development Genesis is a full year around effort from the team in charge. Not out of winter yet, Claire is already working on venue specifications and accommodating the 10 exhibitors already signed-up, Polly is updating our communication material and working on exciting new features and I am delighted to say that I’m working hard on delivering an even more exceptional programme! The overarching topic of Genesis 2018 will be ‘Driving Success in Life Science & Healthcare: Convergence of Technology, Investment and People’. It will reflect on the massive changes within the sector in terms of approach to diseases as well as interdisciplinarity brought to the labs and to patient care. It will also touch base on the evolution of the whole industry business, model reflecting on the current M&A game played all along the value chain, as well as the diversification of capital sources. It will be brought together in a mix of parallel and plenary sessions and will be the perfect forum to review the year behind and to bring prospective hypothesis to the year ahead. I’d love to hear your comments and suggestions on that so please feel free to reach out if you’d like to contribute to another successful Genesis conference.
Life Science Leadership Series - Building the Life Science & Med Tech Industry Between the UK and Irvine, Orange County 14 February 2018, The Cambridge Building, Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge.
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Access to the biggest Angel and Venture capital network in the US
Last October our CEO was fortunate enough to be invited on to a trade mission to Irvine, Orange County, California to explore what opportunities there could be for One Nucleus members and the wider network by collaborating with the Irvine cluster. Some key take home messages from the trip included:
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The depth of the Irvine cluster in this field means it represents an excellent pool of potential partners for UK-based companies seeking to expand
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There was great potential for exchanging expertise between the clusters in how the regional eco-system can be facilitated in creating and growing world class life science technology companies
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The location which was always master-planned to be an economic powerhouse and there may be actions we can adapt to support local growth
We are delighted that a high level delegation, including the Mayor of Irvine and senior executives from organisations such as Edwards Life Sciences, OCTANe, UCI, Thinkbox Technologies,
Jones Lang LaSalle, The Greater Irvine Chamber, and more is once again visiting Cambridge on 14 February to exchange thoughts and opportunities on the road to collaborating for mutual success. We would be delighted if you are able to join us for this thought leadership panel session and networking in order to share your views and catalyse success. View the programme here
DIT update Davos Life Sciences Roundtable The Department for International Trade Life Sciences Organisation held a roundtable with Life Science industry leaders at the 2018 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum on 25 January at Davos in Switzerland. Centered on the challenges and opportunities facing the Life Science Sector as the UK prepares to leave the EU, the roundtable recognised the UK’s role as one of the world’s strongest and most
productive life sciences sectors, and provided valuable insight into industry priorities for EU Exit and a vibrant and innovative future for the sector. The meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister, and co-chaired by Secretary of State for the Department for International Trade, Liam Fox, with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark, also participating.
UK-China Oncology Congress The Department for International Trade, in partnership with the China National Cancer Centre, is holding a UK-China Oncology Congress in Beijing and Guangzhou from 25 -29 June 2018. The event is designed to showcase the UK’s excellence in oncology through a trade exhibition, high-
profile speakers, industry led presentations, academic seminars, and expert exchanges. The Chinese audience will include government, buyers, distributors, universities, hospitals, and organisations responsible for prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care in the oncology field. The event is open to UK companies, organisations,
NHS trusts, academics & scientists in oncology fields with experience or interest in China commercial opportunities, collaborations, and research. Express interest via mailto:Oncology.Congress@fco.gov. uk
ON charity of the month Action On Hearing Loss Action on Hearing Loss is the largest charity dedicated to funding research into hearing loss and tinnitus. A national charity since 1911, it’s vision is a world where deafness, tinnitus and hearing loss do not limit or label people, and where people value their hearing. Hearing loss is an area of highunmet medical need, affecting 5% of the world population and with over 1 billion young people at risk of losing their hearing due to recreational noise. Despite the unmet need there are currently no treatments for hearing loss and tinnitus. The market for new therapies to treat hearing disorders is estimated to be over US$ 5 billion a year. Action on Hearing Loss’ goal is to accelerate the development of therapeutics to protect and restore hearing and silence tinnitus. It works globally with academic researchers, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and investors to: • •
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companies Facilitate opportunities for drug repositioning into hearing loss and tinnitus. Provide links to key opinion leaders, therapy area experts, investors and market intelligence Provide access to preclinical and clinical contract research services specialising in hearing disorders Increase patient involvement, aid recruitment into clinical trials and ensure new treatments address patient need.
If you have a drug that could be used to treat hearing loss or tinnitus or if you would like to know more
about the opportunities in the hearing loss market please get in touch at mailto:trih@hearingloss. org.uk Find out more about our work at: https://www.actiononhearingloss. org.uk/finding-cures/translationalresearch-initiative-for-hearing/
Fund discovery and translational hearing research from SMEs and academia Foster partnerships between academia and biotech/pharma
ON student membership Our mission is to enable our members to be globally competitive. Organisations can only achieve that through attracting and nurturing the best talent, of course. Engaging world class students in the sector is therefore a key aim of ours in order to attract the best possible talent pool from which our members can recruit. From a student’s perspective, the challenge of gaining a window into the industry in order to decide which career path they wish to follow can be a daunting one. To this end, we have created a new membership category to help address this challenge. See more here
ON international collaborator Update from British Quebec Business Coalition
Paraza Pharma, Inc. is an innovative research organisation with a mission to accelerate small molecule drug discovery projects for it’s clients. The company was founded in February 2011 and had five chemists on the payroll at the end of that year. This month it is celebrating it’s seventh anniversary with a staff of close to 100. Currently, core of the company is a group of 60 skilled and creative synthetic organic and medicinal
chemists with expertise in modern medicinal chemistry and process development. Complementing the chemistry department are growing groups in DMPK and biology. Paraza employees are North America- or Europe-trained scientists with PhD (two-thirds) or research-based MSc degrees. Many of it’s team members came to the company with years of drug discovery experience in the pharma setting. It is located in Montreal, Canada, a major North American technology hub with four Universities and, until recently, research centers for several large Pharma companies. Paraza is emerging as a leader in providing integrated drug discovery services and expertise to organisations ranging from virtual start-ups to larger biotechs and Pharma companies. In the few years since it’s inception, it has successfully participated in
onenucleus.com
more than 30 hit-to-lead and lead optimisation projects, with Paraza chemists being recognised as coinventors on at least 15 published patent applications and four molecules first synthesised in it’s labs selected for preclinical/clinical development. Close collaboration between it’s chemistry, biology and DMPK groups has been critical for efficient project decision-making for many projects. It’s singular focus to deliver the highest scientific value has resulted in numerous satisfied client partners across the US and Canada and it is eager to collaborate with other companies in the UK and Europe. If you wish to learn more how it’s cost-effective services can help advance your research projects, please visit: http:// parazapharma.com/ or contact: mailto:info@parazapharma.com.
£36*
ON Student Membership Playing our part in the future sustainability and success of the sector *£36 + VAT annual membership
ON member discounts Potency Assay 101 Workshop: 28 February 2018 view more SCF Medicines Manufacturing Round 2 Challenge Fund Competition - Engagement Workshop FREE to attend: 7 March 2018 view more BIO-Europe Spring 2018: 12-14 March 2018 view more MEDXPERIENCE - 5 free places available to One Nucleus Members: 15-16 March 2018 view more BioTrinity 2018: 23 - 25 April 2018 view more 15th Annual Anglonordic Life Science Conference: 24 May 2018 view more MediWales Connects: 20 June 2018 view more MedFIT: 26 - 27 June - view more BioFIT: 4-5 December 2018 - view more
ON links ON Blog - Artificial Intelligence and life sciences-the great coming? view more Genesis MedTech Boardroom Minutes Realising the Potential for UK MedTech view more Accessing the High Growth Market in China view more Adapting to a New Regulatory Environment view more
Introducing the UK’s first
Data Scientist Degree Apprenticeship Join our employer-focused seminar and networking event to hear more about this innovative apprenticeship for the bioinformatics profession.
14 February 2018 10.00am – 12.00pm Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge
Find out more and register here