Exciting New Era for MedCity as British Library and Francis Crick Extend Facility

...at the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter.

The almost one-million square-foot, multi-million-pound agreement will give an opportunity for one of the most dynamic areas of the knowledge economy and life sciences ecosystem in the UK to grow on an unprecedented scale.

It sits right next to the Francis Crick Institute, which is the largest biomedical facility in Europe, and is close to UCL, the Wellcome Trust, and the London Biosciences Innovation Centre. With its proximity to Google and emergent pioneer companies such as Benevolent AI, the development offers tremendous opportunity for pioneers in life science, AI and multiple related fields.

The site will provide commercial space for organisations seeking to locate alongside the Alan Turing Institute, which is the national centre for data science and artificial intelligence, and an expansion of the British Library's own exhibition, business and learning facilities. The commercial space will be multi-use and offer laboratory and office space.

The development will bolster the cluster of world-class genomics, big data analysis, artificial intelligence and digital health.

Sarah Haywood, CEO at MedCity, and a member of the PING (Pharmaceutical Industry Network Group), which VWV runs, said: "MedCity has been proud to have worked with Camden, Mitsui Fudosan and Stanhope to help see the potential and vision for this site evolve as it has - we are further heartened by the possibilities offered to further build on our links between our partners and colleagues in Japan and the UK science base."

Veronique Birault, Head of Translation at the Francis Crick Institute, commented: "This is an exciting opportunity to build a sustainable ecosystem bringing together data sciences, life sciences and business. It will be a great environment to nurture the next generation of companies with a rich network of research excellence and commercial organisations in close proximity. This will help our scientists to take their research forward, whether through their own spin-outs or by collaborating creatively with the new companies on our doorstep."

Comment

Brexit seems to dominate the landscape. Life sciences is no exception.

We recently saw the renewal of the life sciences sector deal to showcase where the UK can lead the way in a post-Brexit world. This included expansion of the UK's pioneering work on sequencing genomes and using AI to better understand and treat disease.

Now we have this exciting development in a world-leading place of research in the Knowledge Quarter area of London.

We hope these developments will help to continue to attract leading business and researchers to the UK, whatever happens after Brexit.

Do you have any thoughts on this development, and what the opportunities are for UK life sciences? Please share your thoughts with Paul Gershlick in our Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences team on 01923 919 320, or complete the form below.