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p01 the quarterly newsletter from Edinburgh BioQuarter W: www.edinburghbioquarter.com
T: 0131 242 9249
Issue 02
locate at BioQuarter
summer 2011
More about Edinburgh
E: james.wood@bioquarter.com
looking forward Welcome to the second newsletter from Edinburgh BioQuarter. We’re delighted to announce the arrival of the latest member of our senior team this month, as well as the launch of a company called ipSOX, which makes sleeves for insulin pumps. Bill Blair has joined Edinburgh BioQuarter as our new Head of Business Creation. You can read more about Bill’s background and his plans to grow businesses here at BioQuarter on page two of this newsletter. You’ll also find updates on the progress of i2eye Diagnostics and our new bio-incubator building on these pages. As ever, please get in touch with me or any member of my team for more information on any of these articles – or just click on the links beneath each article to find out more.
Mike Capaldi Commercialisation Director Edinburgh BioQuarter
Queens’ Medical Research Institute, 47 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ
i2eye Diagnostics progress
Bio-incubator building takes shape As these photos show, our bio-incubator building is on course to begin fit-out in August of this year, welcoming its first tenants in January 2012. The bio-incubator will provide more than 80,000 square feet of office and lab space for tenants, with the ground floor earmarked for young high-growth biotech companies.
To find out more about tenancy packages available at the bio-incubator contact Virginia Herriot at Scottish Enterprise on e: virginia.heriot@scotent.co.uk t: +44 (0) 131 313 6213
i2eye Diagnostics Ltd, the Edinburgh BioQuarter company that has created a first-to-market visual field analyser for new patient groups, was selected for the UK government’s prestigious IBIZ event in London on 9 and 10 March. Dr Peter Estibeiro, CEO of i2Eye Diagnostics, said: “Only 37 companies from around Britain were given the opportunity to present to investors from around the world, so this was a great honour for us. We hope to announce significant new funding from investors in the weeks ahead.” Find out more about i2eye w: http://i2eyediagnostics.com
p02 the quarterly newsletter from Edinburgh BioQuarter W: www.edinburghbioquarter.com
T: 0131 242 9249
Issue 02
summer 2011
E: james.wood@bioquarter.com
BioQuarter’s new business pipeline gets moving
Contact us locate at BioQuarter More about Edinburgh
Innovation Competition Judging Begins Our innovation competition closed for entries on 31 March, with 22 entries received from researchers at the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian. The first round of judging will take place in May, with ten companies winning £1,000 and going through to a second round of judging in June for the chance to win five prizes of £2,000 and the opportunity to win our grand prize of £10,000 plus legal and financial services provided by our sponsors.
Bill Blair joined our team on 11th April as Head of Business Creation. Bill’s role will be to direct and manage the launch of new life sciences companies, as well as leading a team of professionals in the development of further new businesses based on the worldleading research being conducted at the University of Edinburgh’s College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine and NHS Lothian. Bill explained, “Based on an analysis of existing research commercialisation projects undertaken by Mike Capaldi and the team prior to my arrival, we’ve identified a portfolio of company concepts as viable spin-out businesses over the next twelve to thirty-six months. These business concepts include new disease models for drug testing and
Keep an eye on the website for the winners announcement:
“We’ve identified a portfolio of company concepts as viable spin-out businesses over the next twelve to thirty-six months.”
http://www.edinburghbioquarter.com
Bill Blair, Head of Business Creation development (Aquila BioMedical); a company that creates liver cells for disease modelling and drug testing (FibroMed); new topical pain solutions (NeurocentRx) and a company with a revolutionary approach to pulmonary imaging (Edinburgh Medical Imaging). Other company concepts related to orphan drugs and medical devices will follow these initial targets for commercialisation.
We are aiming to spin out at least three of the companies currently being developed at BioQuarter over the next year. In the meantime, we’ll also be looking closely at the 22 entries we’ve received for the 2011 Innovation competition to identify further promising company concepts that we can add to our pipeline.”
For more information about new spin out companies at BioQuarter, contact Bill Blair at: e: bill.blair@bioquarter.com t: +44 (0) 131 242 9487
Insulin Pumps Up the Volume ipSOX Limited announced its launch on 30th March. The company produces covers that can be worn by patients to hold their insulin pumps in a range of attractive designs. The company was created by nurses from NHS Lothian and Edinburgh Napier University, supported by Business Development staff at Edinburgh BioQuarter, including Dr Jenny Cusiter, Business Development Associate.
For more information on ipSOX or to order any of the covers, go to the website:
w: www.ipsox.co.uk