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When Ruth Roberts learned that AstraZeneca, where she had been working for a decade, was leaving her home in Alderley Park, Cheshire, to settle in a new seat in Cambridge, she felt "A feeling of sorrow after losing something".
Six years later, Roberts, who was previously head of global regulatory safety for the drug maker, was appointed director of her own company, made up almost entirely of her former colleagues at Astra.
Far from reducing the life sciences industry in the region, the departure of the company has led to an explosion of entrepreneurship, with many people planning to spend their lives on a payroll that has operated reserves. unsuspected business and innovation.
These are not simply stories of personal reinvention; they offer broader perspectives on how a large life sciences campus can find new meaning and new identity after losing its flagship business.
Ned Wakeman, director of Alderley Park Accelerator, which supports the growth and development of life sciences companies in the park, has 86 companies from the AstraZeneca sector since the site's sale in 2014.
It is a mix of drug development companies and contract research organizations that undertake clinical trials and other functions on behalf of major pharmaceutical companies.
This surge of activity, he suggests, owes a lot to the decision to organize training camps for future entrepreneurs in the months leading up to the company's departure, as well as to the company. a continuous mentorship program and the creation of venture capital funds – investors included the local council – on which new companies could draw.
Alderley Park occupies an area of 400 hectares in Cheshire and offers to the rich archaeologists of the pharma. It was originally occupied by HERE, one of the post-war industrial landscape giants in the UK, whose Zeneca bioscience activity was split in 1993, uniting its forces to Swedish Astra six years later.
Nestled in a cluttered office in the park's main building, Ms. Roberts said when she and her colleagues had learned that the company was landing at Cambridge, one of the world's leading science research centers. the most influential lives in the world. We have an incredible legacy for drug discovery and development. "
However, demonstrating a pragmatism characteristic of his profession, the toxicology specialist quickly realized that many of the site's outstanding scientists preferred to stay in the north.
"And that gave us the opportunity to put our arms around the best people and bring them together to start a business."
Roberts, who also chairs research on drugs at the University of Birmingham, has made it clear that had Astra not decided to leave the site, its company, ApconiX, may never have seen the light of day. .
The availability of a large talent pool, due to the number of people who decided not to relocate to Cambridge, was also critical for its ability to run the business, she said.
ApconiX, which tests preclinical drugs to ensure their safety, has grown from its three founding partners to a workforce of 23 people.
One floor higher, another Astra graduate, Steve McConchie, acknowledges that without the chance of his move, he would probably also have ended his career at Astra, where he had been working for 25 years.
The company designs and conducts clinical trials in areas such as oncology and rare diseases, from offices enjoying breathtaking views of the Cheshire countryside.
"If you asked us before we started" would we be there five years later, with 50 people working for us? "The answer was probably no, I think we all saw ourselves as Big Pharma people," said McConchie.
Chris Doherty, General Manager of Alderley Park, said that along with Astra's own determination that the site continues to be a center for life sciences and biotechnology, the choice of a friendly developer had been crucial.
The Bruntwood Real Estate Group has spent the last five years overseeing and funding the future development of the site. Last October, the site was integrated with Bruntwood SciTech, a 50/50 joint venture between Bruntwood and Legal & General, which is developing a British network of related science and technology sites.
However, Alderley's second successful life contrasts with what happened on other sites after the departure of their anchored pharmaceutical companies, said Doherty.
In Horsham, West Susbad, a former research and development center for Novartis, commercial and housing construction is underway. While at Terlings Park, which once belonged to the world's leading health care provider, MSD, the labs were replaced.
"It happens everywhere, that kind of contraction. And few have been brought back successfully, "said Doherty, describing Alderley as" the most successful regeneration of a pharmaceutical site in the country. "
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