Business News Boost for proposed science park
Plans to develop the Midlands’ only science park dedicated to health and life sciences research – Birmingham Health Innovation Campus (BHIC) – have received another boost thanks to an investment of up to £14m from Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP). The Campus is being delivered
through a long-term collaboration between the University of Birmingham and the UK property provider for the science and technology sector, Bruntwood SciTech. Phase 1 of the ambitious 10-acre,
£210m development includes a 133,000 sq ft, seven-storey building which will offer premium lab and office space to companies specialising in medtech, precision medicine and digital healthcare. The building will also be home to
a new innovation centre – the Precision Health Technologies Accelerator (PHTA) – which is the focus of the investment by GBSLEP. The PHTA builds on Birmingham’s nationally-recognised strengths in health data informatics; genomics medicine and diagnostics; medical
technologies evaluation; and clinical trials – providing the anchor innovation capability to attract and support businesses from start-ups and SMEs to established enterprises.
GBSLEP’s investment will
support the design and fit-out of the state-of-the-art facilities of the PHTA, which will include a range of incubation suites comprising: wet and dry lab facilities with offices; training, meeting and innovation spaces; and a prototyping and small-scale manufacturing suite supporting businesses in the development of their new medical technologies.
‘BHIC is a catalyst for the region’s health and life sciences industry and a growing, vibrant cluster’
The PHTA will also be home to Birmingham Precision Medicine Centre which brings together leading diagnostic and clinical trials capabilities to support the UK’s biotech industry in the development of new diagnostics and therapeutics – as well as space for a future health data insights hub. Professor Tim Jones, University
of Birmingham Provost and Vice- Principal, commented: “Sitting at the heart of Birmingham Health Partners’ ecosystem, BHIC is a catalyst for the region’s health and life sciences industry and a growing, vibrant cluster. “GBSLEP’s support and
investment will be instrumental in enabling us to develop the core PHTA infrastructure which will
34 CHAMBERLINK February 2021
facilitate the two specialist centres of excellence - Birmingham Precision Medicine Centre, and the Medical Technologies Innovation Hub. Together, these offerings will
provide health and life science businesses with access to Birmingham’s clinical and academic expertise in complex areas such as clinical trials design, regulatory science, multi-omics analysis and medical device evaluation. “Construction is expected to
begin in 2021, creating around 500 jobs, and when complete in 2023 we expect a further 500 life sciences and support jobs to be created. Overall, the development of BHIC will support up to 10,000 new jobs for the regional economy, contributing an additional £400m GVA by 2030, which wouldn’t be possible without this valued support from GBSLEP and other partners.” Tim Pile, Chair of GBSLEP, said:
“The flagship Precision Health Technologies Accelerator (PHTA) has enormous potential to drive healthcare innovation and the development of new health technologies, which represent a huge growth opportunity for our region. “This has obviously been brought
into even sharper focus with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Investment in sites like BHIC will be essential to achieving the economic growth needed for a sustainable recovery and fostering cross sectoral collaboration. The site will not only provide an immediate injection of jobs for our area, but will secure jobs of the future too.”
Vision: An impression of the Health Innovation Campus
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