Working with Industry

The BBTC has been established to be a world class centre which will provide higher level knowledge transfer for both the existing biopharmaceutical industry and potential inward investors.

Currently the UK is responsible for 40% of the drugs in the pipeline for Europe and 45% of drugs in late stage trials in Europe. Around 30% of pharmaceutical drugs in development in the UK are from a biological production route. This is a consequence of significant UK R&D investment - 25% of the UK R&D spend is by the pharmaceutical sector which amounts to £7.4 billion each year.

It is recognised that the biological route for pharmaceutical manufacture offers greater chances of success, and investment in expanding the bio-based pharmaceutical portfolio is being undertaken (2007 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Annual Report). However, in their annual review, the Knowledge Transfer Network bioProcess UK observed that although UK industry is second in the world, between 2005 and 2007 its market share has fallen from 11.4% to 9.2% in the face of the growth of competition. UK companies continue to be ambitious (for example, GSK seeks to triple pipeline products by 2015), but their plans are reliant on hiring and retaining an appropriately skilled workforce.

A fundamental requirement in supporting the sector against fierce competition is the availability of appropriate skills in an industry where a skills lead is a strategy for success.

Newcastle University has a strong reputation for industrial facing bioprocessing research and innovation and will address skills shortages in the biopharmaceutical industry sector. The BBTC provides the opportunity for academics and industrialists to work together in developing practical skills in bioprocessing and the extraction of information from data to improve bioprocessing.

Working as a broker between the University and industry, the centre’s industrial liaison director understands industry needs and provides an awareness of what is possible in terms of knowledge transfer.

The BBTC offers a number of opportunities for industry:

If your organisation would like to explore areas of mutual interest please read more about the support offered by our Industrial Liaison Director.