Life sciences accelerator and medtech incubator project MediCity Glasgow have helped raise over £26 million (€29M) in the last five years, supporting the creation of 70 new companies in Scotland’s thriving life sciences sector and creating over 200 jobs.

The project, which is part of business collective BioCity, greatly surpassed their original investment goal of £5 million (€5.6M), enhancing the commercial life sciences sector, which is set to contribute £8 billion (€8.9B) to the Scottish economy by 2025.

WHY IT MATTERS

By offering holistic coaching tailored to individual entrepreneurship schemes, MediCity enables scientists to test hypotheses and explore the commercial viability of their ideas without the need for substantial investment, which they might not be able to afford.

This lean start-up methodology, which aims to ultimately scale these company, gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to explore groundbreaking ideas, applying scientific rigour to their business process whilst building the necessary skills to accelerate the commercialisation of research from lab to market.

An example of a company fostered by MediCity is Origin Peptides, a Scottish Edge 2020 winner that has developed a new, cleaner and more efficient method of peptide synthesis, which could make insulin cheaper and more readily available.

Sara ten Have, founder and director of Origin Peptides, says: “MediCity has been phenomenal for us. Not only did it provide us with a suitable base from which to operate and a supporting infrastructure that was ready to go, but it introduced us to the right people, who were able to give us the right advice at the right time as part of the accelerator.”

THE LARGER PICTURE

The COVID-19 pandemic has meant that the need for global life science businesses and innovation has never been higher, both to address the immediate health needs brought out by the pandemic and to build long-term recovery. Scotland has embraced the need to revolutionise care delivery, fielding investment from across the private and public sectors, for instance in the expansion of telehealth.

ON THE RECORD

Colin Roberts, venture development director of BioCity Group, says: “The success of the new companies [created with the help of MediCity] in raising significant private investment funding and creating new high value jobs across Scotland demonstrates the value of its collaborative approach which has far exceeded many of its original targets. The outcomes have been achieved with relatively modest public sector co-funding, representing a significant return on investment for the project stakeholders.”

“Continued and sustained investment in the commercialisation of life sciences and health technology research is essential to both economic recovery in Scotland and the continued fight against COVID-19. If continued, the project can scale its impact on the sector even further, significantly building on Scotland’s established expertise in life sciences and complementing a number of new infrastructure projects planned across Scotland.”