Bioscience is big business as York Biotech Campus thrives

York Biotech Campus provides lab and office space for both entrepreneurs and start-ups through to scale-ups and established organisations, allowing them to work in a flexible, unique scientific environment.

The innovation taking place on the campus addresses wide-ranging societal challenges, from food security to climate change, with several tenants having been involved in helping in the fight against Covid-19.

Liz Cashon, the innovation campus manager, said the past year had been ‘different but very successful’ for the site which is set within 80 acres of parkland north of York at Sand Hutton.

“We’ve had numerous expansions onsite in line with exciting business growth from tenants, many of which were fuelled by the pandemic and the work they’ve been doing to address the challenges we’ve faced because of it.

“This includes Abingdon Health, who needed to quickly mass produce Covid-19 antibody tests but didn’t have the space to do so.

“We offered a pre-existing storage unit, which was converted into a leading manufacturing and research facility.”

She said they had also welcomed new tenants, alongside anchor tenant, Fera Science Limited, including plant-based food producer Plant & Bean, and start-ups AgriSound, which specialises in ecosystem management and beekeeping technology, as well as Oxxie, a specialist lighting company.

The newcomers were benefitting from being within a supportive bioscience community, she said.

Liz added: “Bioscience was already a buoyant sector before the pandemic and it’s now an even more attractive sector for new entrants, existing companies and investors, especially in York.

“Alongside other organisations and stakeholders in York, we’re seeing huge demand for bioscience space, with enquiries totalling over 200,000 sq. ft.

“The science park setting is an attractive option as it offers a lifestyle that employers and employees are looking for.

“With green space and access to nature, free parking, onsite facilities including a nursery, restaurant, gym, and most importantly, its sense of community.YBC is the perfect space for bioscience companies to thrive.”

Looking ahead, Liz said: “We’re continuing to support our growing base of tenants through their own expansions, but we also know we need to satisfy the demand in the region by repurposing and upgrading space. We’re now looking at the next phase of our campus’ growth by adding additional buildings.

“We’re also introducing co-working space for those now working more flexibly and who might prefer to work in a collaborative environment surrounded by other science organisations. We’ll be repurposing space in the central hub building into a co-working facility that will hold about 40 work-stations.”

Among the tenants is Labskin, a skincare testing company that creates an artificial human skin equivalent used for testing skincare and healthcare products.

Based at the campus since 2014, Labskin underwent its biggest expansion to date in early 2021 as it doubled its space to nearly 10,000 sq.ft and, more recently, added an extra three laboratories.

The expansions have meant Labskin has been able to introduce new services including being able to create reagents from Modern Water that are used in specialised monitoring of toxicity in water and soil.

Vinay Thoree, a senior histologist at Labskin.

Later this month, Labskin will also be launching its first consumer product. Skin Trust Club is a home swabbing kit, which analyses an individual’s unique skin microbiome to give personal skin type and product recommendations.

Labskin has also been involved in Covid-19 projects and its skin model has been used to test the effectiveness of hand sanitiser and anti-viral products on skin.