Edinburgh Bioquarter: info from Scottish Enterprise May 07

Leading US life science property specialist appointed to drive Scotland's bioscience industry

7 May 2007

Scottish Enterprise announced today (Monday 7 May) that is has formed a strategic alliance with North America's leading life science property specialist to develop one of Europe's top centres for biomedical research and development.



Following a competitive tendering exercise, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc (NYSE: ARE), Landlord and Developer of Choice to the Life Science Industry®, has been selected as the development partner for the commercial research campus at the Centre for Biomedical Research, a collaboration between Scottish Enterprise, the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian.

Development at the Little France site on the outskirts of Edinburgh is expected to generate £250 million of investment and create 6,500 new jobs.

Planning permission has already been granted for approximately 1.4 million square feet of academic, institutional and commercial life science space on the 100 acre site. Alexandria has exclusive rights to develop a top life science cluster for a broad spectrum of bioscience entities. Working in partnership with the National Health Service and the University of Edinburgh, Scottish Enterprise and Alexandria will capitalise on the strong existing life science infrastructure to create a world-class destination that will connect Scotland to the world's most important life science markets.

The campus is being rebranded as Edinburgh BioQuarter with Alexandria and Scottish Enterprise aiming to create one of the most internationally attractive clusters for the life science industry, joining the elite club of top world-wide locations such as, Biopolis in Singapore, Mission Bay in San Francisco , Technology Square @ MIT in Cambridge and Novum Biocity in Stockholm. Once complete, the project is expected to generate an additional £350 million per annum for the Scottish economy.

Alexandria, which is the pre-eminent and largest dedicated life science property specialist in North America, owns and operates more than 11 million square feet of office/laboratory properties, including such world class destinations as Technology Square @ MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It also has more than six million square feet of office/laboratory space currently under development, including Mission Bay in San Francisco and the East River Science Park in New York City.

Alexandria's business model is to create and grow life science clusters in markets where there are strong academic, medical and research institutions, as well as a first class talent pool and strong capital base. Its leading brand and reputation as the Landlord and Developer of Choice for the Life Science Industry® is expected to generate substantial interest in Edinburgh BioQuarter from some of the most important life science companies world-wide.

This is the first time that Alexandria has invested in property development outside of North America and the company separately announced that it will also establish its initial European headquarters in Scotland as a result of the strategic alliance with Scottish Enterprise.

Announcing the strategic alliance at BIO in Boston, Jack Perry, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, says: "The scale of Edinburgh BioQuarter has never been seen before in the UK life science sector. What makes this project unique is not just its size but the fact that it is located directly adjacent to both the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and the internationally renowned University of Edinburgh's medical school and Queens Medical Research Institute."

Jack Perry went on to say, "Alexandria's reputation for outstanding life science cluster development combined with Scotland's reputation for producing outstanding science will act as a magnet for some of the world's leading scientists, researchers and companies to locate here and is a key part of Scottish Enterprise's strategy to ensure that Scotland can compete with the best in Europe and around the world for new investment and new jobs."

Alexandria will immediately start planning for the first building on-site – an approximately 80,000 square foot multi-occupancy building. The flagship centre will include Alexandria's unique range of state of the art facilities and proprietary products and services designed to foster the development of a broad and diverse life science sector. These proprietary elements include:

The Scottish Technology AcceleratorSM, which bridges the gap between research and commercialisation; a Bio Hot Rack LabSM, which will offer scientists and researchers short-term access to lab space and work equipment to conduct exploratory research; and an Innovation Centre, which will house emerging and mid-stage companies working in a collaborative environment.
The multi-occupancy building will also offer highly flexible and adaptable space for more established companies and is expected to be completed in 2009.

Alexandria will also begin planning for the remaining commercial plots, which will include a second multi-occupancy building for larger tenants, as well as customised accommodation for large international companies and build-to-suits for established entities in the life science industry.

"We are extremely proud and honoured to have been selected by Scottish Enterprise to spearhead this world class effort to create a leading life science cluster in Scotland,” said Joel. S. Marcus, chief executive officer of Alexandria. "We were attracted to Edinburgh BioQuarter due to its renowned medical institutions such as the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh's College of Medicine and the Queen’s Medical Research Institute. In choosing Edinburgh, we will be adhering to our strategy of developing in a community rich with reputable, highly recognisable research and academic entities, as well as a great talent pool and strong capital base – the anchors of a thriving life science community. We believe Edinburgh BioQuarter will become a life science magnet that not only supports local emerging biotechnology companies, but will attract some of the larger international life science companies as well. We look forward to applying our successful life science cluster business model to this effort to create a world-class destination of choice for the industry."

Edinburgh BioQuarter aims to provide a hotbed of collaboration where industry can work alongside academia and clinicians to develop a "bench to bedside" approach to the development of new drugs and better healthcare treatments for the 21st century.

This co-location will be unique in the UK and companies locating to Edinburgh BioQuarter will be able to capitalise on the research expertise of the University of Edinburgh as one of the world's top 20 universities for biomedicine and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, which is already regarded as an international centre of excellence for clinical trials.

As well as the commercial research park, a further 500,000 square feet of academic research space is to be developed at Edinburgh BioQuarter by the University of Edinburgh, including the recently announced £60 million Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine.

Professor James Barbour OBE, chief executive of NHS Lothian, said: "This is an exciting development that emphasises the scale and significance of the biomedical sector in Scotland and indeed Europe. The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh is a centre of excellence, enjoying close and productive links with the University of Edinburgh Medical School. Research is the tool that helps drive major improvements in healthcare. This is a significant development for the City of Edinburgh and the Lothians and NHS Lothian is proud to be a key partner in this important development which will quickly establish itself on the world biosector stage."

Professor John Savill, head of the University of Edinburgh's College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, added: "The University of Edinburgh is proud to be a key partner in such an exciting initiative for biomedical research in Scotland. The new campus will provide an environment in which our scientists can work in close collaboration with commercial partners to ensure that the groundbreaking research we undertake in life sciences is put to the best possible use.

"Some of our research genuinely has the potential to change people's lives for the better, with applications across a wide range of medical conditions. Initiatives such as the Edinburgh BioQuarter will ensure that the University's scientific discoveries and innovations in the field of biomedicine can be developed for the future in the most efficient way possible."

Edinburgh Bioquarter: Image / text from Scottish Enterprise May 07





About Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Enterprise is the main economic development agency for Scotland covering 93 per cent of the population from Grampian to the Borders. The Scottish Enterprise Network consists of Scottish Enterprise and 12 Local Enterprise Companies. Working in partnership with the private and public sectors the Network aims to build more and better businesses, to develop the skills and knowledge of Scotland's people, and to encourage innovation to make Scotland's businesses internationally competitive.

About Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., Landlord and Developer of Choice to the Life Science Industry®, is a publicly-traded real estate investment trust focused principally on the ownership, operation, management, selective redevelopment, development and acquisition of properties for the life science industry. Its properties are designed and improved for lease primarily to institutional (universities and independent not-for-profit institutions), pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, life science product, service, biodefense and translational medicine entities, as well as governmental agencies.


Edinburgh Biomedical Centre : Medical Masterplan

Edinburgh Biomedical Building: photo from keppie architects

Keppie Design's £200m masterplan for a Centre for Biomedical Research at
Little France, Edinburgh has been given the go-ahead following a "breakthrough" land agreement. The pioneering project is expected to create 6000 jobs and will inject almost £500m a year into the national economy. The 100 acre site will be built over a 15 year period and is supported by Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian, which will invest £23m in the centre.

The design vision for the proposed Centre for Biomedical Research at
Little France is the creation of an ordered, stimulating and diverse environment with a landscape and infrastructure framework that can suggest and sustain development on a phased basis. An essential feature of this plan is the location of the Research Centre right next to the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and University of Edinburgh Medical School, both of which are Keppie Design projects. This close physical proximity will create an environment that positively encourages collaboration and interaction between researchers in different disciplines, and particularly between scientists and clinicians, as well providing an integrated teaching environment for medical students, allowing them a unique education combining traditional teaching with clinical patient care and current research.

Shared communal spaces such as libraries, canteens, seminar rooms etc will
help increase the level of interaction between scientists, clinicians, students
and commercial and academic researchers. The integrated campus allows all areas to be accessed on foot. The Biomedical Research masterplan illustrates the University Campus as the pivotal element of the whole development, allowing the necessary linkage between hospital and commercial research facilities to develop through an integrated framework of sensitively designed open spaces. These spaces recognise and embrace the areas unique topographical character.

The Edinburgh Biomedical research park, which will inject £440m into the economy every year and will create 6000 jobs has been described as one of Scottish Enterprise's 40 High Impact Projects in their 2003-2004 Five Year Investment Plan. The Centre for Biomedical Research is one of four key project types highlighted by SE for development and Keppie Design is also involved in two others - the regeneration of the Clyde Waterfront, with its flagship office building at 200 Broomielaw and the creation of the Dundee Digital Medical Campus, where the company is redeveloping the old Seabraes Mill.

Centre for Biomedical Research: Building PR Apr 2004

Centre for Biomedical Research
Work has begun on a medical research centre in Edinburgh. Contractors have started building the Edinburgh University Research Institute for Medical Cell Biology at Little France.
04.04.03

University Research
£52m medical research centre proposal unveiled: next to Edinburgh’s new Royal Infirmary.
03.12.02




Research Institute for Medical Cell Biology, Little France
£52m medical research centre (construction cost £34m): a 3-storey concrete building, on site of new Royal Infirmary, providing laboratory accommodation for 620 research staff, now 70% complete (Dec 2004). The Medical Cell Biology Research Building is parallel with Craigmillar Castle Road at the west end of the site, to the left from the entrance off Old Dalkeith Road

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Edinburgh Bioquarter context : Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh