Science park home to Pfizer joins Scotland’s Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre

A vast science park with more than 160 tenant companies has become the first site of its kind to join Scotland’s Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC).

Discovery Park, located at Sandwich in Kent, is home to companies including pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, with some 3,500 people in total working across the site.

The move is part of the park’s wider commitment to engage with the UK’s growing industrial biotechnology community, supporting and championing innovation and commercialisation of new industrial biotechnology processes and products.

Mark Bustard, chief executive of IBioIC, said: “The innovation centre plays an important role in supporting the growth of the UK’s bioeconomy, connecting industry partners with world-leading research teams to explore alternative bio-based materials and processes across a range of sectors.

Discovery Park, located at Sandwich in Kent, is home to companies including pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, with some 3,500 people in total working across the site.

“So far, we have supported more than 200 companies to bring new products to the global market and connecting with industrial biotechnology research and science hubs such as the Discovery Park will no doubt unlock further opportunities.

“Almost £30 million of additional industry investment has been generated as a direct result of IBioIC innovation activities to date, contributing to more than 3,000 high-value green jobs,” he added.

Discovery Park’s drive towards industrial biotechnology builds upon the site’s global reputation for drug discovery and manufacture, having been home to Pfizer since the 1950s.

Jane Kennedy, chief business officer at Discovery Park, said: “The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre has undoubtedly done a fantastic job of catalysing the growth of the sector in Scotland.

“It is clear to me that joining the IBioIC offers Discovery Park opportunities to collaborate and make connections between my tenant companies in Kent with the fast growing network in Scotland. We hope to bring together companies that can learn from each other how to turn great ideas into great businesses.

“The membership will also help us to become the centre of excellence in the south east for industrial biotechnology, aiming to deliver thousands of new jobs and economic growth for the region. It will in turn give IBioIC the opportunity to work with new companies active in biotechnology and help grow its ecosystem and encourage further investment in the sector.”

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