Interview: A big pool of talent

Loughborough is home to a new, world class science and technology park located on a former AstraZeneca research and development site. In 2012, the site was acquired by a privately owned organisation, which has appointed Carl Edwards to manage the day-to-day operation and attract tenants from the pharmaceuticals industry, life sciences, new technology, R&D, academia and the public sector to the high-quality laboratory and office space on the site.

The aim is to create a flourishing R&D environment while establishing good links to local universities and the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) to attract new graduates to the companies on site and create innovative research collaborations. The hope is that ideas will come to life and thrive on the Charnwood Biomedical Campus, and that it will be a unique and exciting place to work that will add value and opportunity to the local economy.

The 70-acre site will provide 450,000ft² of first class facilities, including multi-purpose, specialist laboratories, cleanrooms, a pilot-scale manufacturing plant, offices, warehousing and parking for 1,500 vehicles.

‘Of the cleanrooms and labs, the oldest building was constructed in 1993,’ says Dr Edwards. ‘Others were built between 1999 and mid-2000. The fit-out is top spec. The labs are fully furnished with benches and pipework in place. All the equipment that costs money to install is there; tenants would only need to move in portable equipment – and people, of course.

We hope that we can create a community that is bigger than the site itself

‘We hope that we can attract companies with complementary technologies and create a community that is bigger than the site itself,’ he adds. ‘We also hope to attract large companies – particularly from abroad – who would look to the local economy to provide the majority of their workforce.’ Dr Edwards confirms that he is in advanced talks with a US manufacturer of medical devices, which is expected to move in with 250–300 staff and be up and running before the end of the year.

‘The site doesn’t lend itself to small biotechs or start-ups unless we divided up one of the large buildings,’ he says. ‘It could support maybe 10 companies with around 200 staff each. AstraZeneca had 1,600 people on site and was still growing when it decided to relocate.’

While the UK has seen the development of many such pharmaceutical and life science bioparks in key locations in recent times, Dr Edwards believes Charnwood is going to be a success because the incentives for tenants choosing to come here are intrinsic to the buildings vacated by AstraZeneca in 2011.

‘The site is ready to go except for power, gas and utilities, and this is happening,’ he says. ‘Tenants could start commissioning the buildings this month. It’s the start of something unique. There isn’t another science park in Britain of the same scale, or with the same combination of buildings, or in a central location. It would be a shame if all the time, effort and money spent by AstraZeneca on the site did not become something useful.’

It would be a shame if all the time, effort and money spent by AstraZeneca on the site did not become something useful

There are plans and land for further expansion at Charnwood to create additional conference rooms, gym facilities, a cafe with catering facilities, a nursery and meeting rooms. Sport and recreational areas for use by tenants and the wider Loughborough community will also be created. Past activities on the site established Loughborough as a global leader in pharmaceutical R&D excellence. Its 43-year legacy and heritage include an extensive portfolio of marketed drugs and formulations used around the world.

There is also a big pool of talent in the area, which Dr Edwards aims to exploit by building better links with the local universities in Loughborough, Leicester and Nottingham. Loughborough has strong leadership in LEAN processes and hi-tech manufacture, while Nottingham and Leicester have medical schools and five biomedical research units.

There could also be scope for former AstraZeneca staff to return. ‘When AstraZeneca decided to close Charnwood in 2011, it offered staff the opportunity to relocate to Alderley Park in Cheshire. Obviously not everyone wanted to move and some kept their homes in and around Loughborough,’ explains Dr Edwards. AstraZeneca has now decided to build a new £330m global R&D centre and corporate HQ in Cambridge and has also agreed to sell Alderley Park, which means some of the research scientists with homes in the area might return.

Charnwood Biomedical Campus will create opportunities to bring jobs back to Loughborough

‘Loughborough is conveniently located in close proximity to London and Cambridge; it has good transport links, schools and places to live. Charnwood Biomedical Campus will create opportunities to bring jobs back to Loughborough and the East Midlands,’ he says.

Before taking up his current role Dr Edwards was involved in building projects and understands what tenants need. ‘Some companies are more used to a blank canvas, but I can see how they could use what is already here. There is an uninterrupted power supply, which is resilient, and a generator that will provide back-up for three days. This would allow long-term experiments to be carried out on site. The site is also secure and there is no public access,’ he says.

Charnwood Biomedical Campus is also the preferred location for a large regional NHS organisation that is looking to consolidate staff from several different sites into one location. That strong NHS presence on site will be attractive to a variety of companies developing healthcare products. Charnwood Biomedical Campus is of great appeal to the NHS organisation because of its central location, transport links and ready-to-go high quality facilities. This tenant business will bring 200–300 people to the campus.

Dr Edwards has broad experience in the pharmaceutical industry having started out in R&D; he then worked for the NHS in various roles, which allowed him to work on joint projects with industry. He is well aware of the need for understanding and supporting the adoption of new therapies, which will require close collaboration between the NHS and Big Pharma.

‘What is an attractive therapy for researchers and clinicians is not necessarily seen in the same way by Big Pharma,’ he says. ‘There needs to be recognition on both sides that the therapy might not turn out to be as effective as claimed, or it might not be a very big disease problem. We’re still of the mindset that sales volumes are driving the drug manufacturers’ mentality. There needs to be recognition that parachuting in a blockbuster drug is not always the best solution for the patient.’

We have two supertanker organisations being asked to change how they exchange their money

Dr Edwards believes that conversations between Big Pharma and clinicians on the ground do not happen as often as they could, and this lack of dialogue is hindering the access of patients to the right drugs when they need them. But changing the business model is a slow process because of the size of both the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry.

‘We have two supertanker organisations being asked to change how they exchange their money,’ says Dr Edwards. ‘We should involve R&D to provide the evidence of the efficacy of treatments. Patients should also be involved more so that costs can be reduced and development speeded up.’

Dr Edwards believes it is still too early for outcome-based pricing, but he thinks ethically-based pricing could work, although it would require a big willingness on the part of patient groups. ‘MS UK was successful in pushing for the introduction of Interferon, for example, but this was a reasonably small patient population. By comparison, changing the price of inhalers for the huge number of patients suffering from COPD would be an enormous challenge.’

Once there is recognition that change is possible and beneficial, then staff will suggest ways to change

But he acknowledges that there is a push within the NHS to get clinicians and front line staff to accept innovation and change. ‘A lot of innovation is in processes, and once there is recognition that change is possible and beneficial, then staff will suggest ways to change.’

The UK Government is already helping with this process by having established the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), which is working to bring drug development back to the UK by changing how the NHS interacts with industry. It supports individuals, facilities and research projects. It has also established Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) to align education, clinical research, informatics, innovation, training and education and healthcare delivery. Their goal is to improve patient health outcomes by translating research into practice, and developing and implementing integrated healthcare services.