MediCity, which is due to open at the BioCity Scotland campus in October, will cluster together entrepreneurs, clinicians, developers, innovators and investors in a supportive environment which will facilitate and accelerate MedTech opportunities.
Partners will include Scottish Universities, NHS Scotland, and large and small companies. It is expected to create around 350 jobs over the next five years.
The proposals for MediCity were announced by BioCity Scotland’s Managing Director, Dr Diane Harbison, at an official Venturefest Scotland feeder event, ‘Venturing Ahead: Turbocharging Entrepreneurs’. Venturefest Scotland is a new annual event that aims to harness Scotland’s innovative ideas and creative thinking in order to turn them into real business opportunities.
Dr Diane Harbison, Managing Director at BioCity Scotland said: “I hope that today’s event will really inspire everyone who attends, and that maybe one day in the not too distant future some of our attendees could be leading exciting new life sciences or MedTech companies of their own. Life sciences is a key growth sector of the Scottish economy and is set to double in size in the next five years, so there is so much potential for young companies to thrive, especially in a supportive incubator environment like we have here at BioCity Scotland.
“I am also greatly looking forward to the forthcoming launch of MediCity Scotland later this year. MediCity will follow a similar clustering model to the one already successfully in action here at BioCity. One of the benefits of clustering similar businesses together is that it leads to a higher survival rate – for example, businesses at BioCity Nottingham have a 91% survival rate, which is fantastic.”
‘Venturing Ahead: Turbocharging Entrepreneurs’ sold out weeks in advance thanks to an impressive line-up of speakers and panellists who have made a commercial success of their innovative ideas. Speakers included Richard Weaver, founder of fast-growing contract research organisation Xenogesis and David Lightbody, CEO of BioGelx, who are a biomaterials company based at BioCity Scotland.
David Lightbody said: “It is a privilege to have been asked to speak at today’s event and I am looking forward to some lively discussion on the issues that are currently affecting Scottish entrepreneurs. Biogelx has experienced significant growth recently and we’re already expanding into overseas markets, so hopefully our story will inspire others and demonstrate the benefits of the invaluable support we’ve received from BioCity Scotland.”
Since its launch in 2012, BioCity Scotland has quickly become the focal point for Scotland’s life science industry. BioCity provides high spec laboratories and office space, as well as access to expertise, finance and a community of like-minded people, making it a hothouse for biotech, pharmaceutical and healthcare businesses to start up and thrive.
Links
Venturefest Scotland