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www.biopharminternational.com Emerging Therapies 2022 eBook BioPharm International ® 33 BioBusiness At StartLab—and Biopôle more widely—access to services is readily available and requires no further investment, Nahas further explains. This is an import- ant asset for start-ups, which get the added bonus of being able to network and mingle with other scientists and entrepreneurs in common spaces. "In 2022, more than 120 companies working in life sciences are based in Biopôle, including 45 biotech and pharma compa- nies, so chances are high that a startup will meet in- teresting people when walking around," says Nahas. Being part of Biopôle allows residents of StartLab to profit from diverse initiatives offered by Biopôle SA. Among them, the Biopôle Start-up Fund finan- cially supports promising start-ups for up to CHF 270,000 (US$282,807) per company, with no equity taken and no reimbursement required (unless the company raises more than CHF 10 billion [US$10.5 billion]). In addition, if the company needs help in validating their business hypothesis, the Vanguard Accelerator offers six months of support by a group of experts, from clinicians, to insurance profession- als and investors. The success of StartLab is given by being part of a larger ecosystem made of talented people and supporting initiatives. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, Discovery Park is a 220-acre science and technology park based at Sandwich in Kent, which offers high quality laboratory, office, and manufacturing facilities, as well as space and support to expand, access to financing, and a strong local sci- entific talent pool, according to Jane Kennedy, chief business officer, Discovery Park. "The growing tenant community includes Pfizer, which has been on site since the 1950s and helped build Discovery Park's reputation as a center for drug discovery. Other tenants include Algaecytes, Canter- bury Christ Church University, Concept Life Sciences, eXroid, LGC, Viatris, Psyros Diagnostics, VisusNano, and Wren Healthcare," Kennedy enumerates. Discovery Park houses more than 160 companies and currently employs around 3500 employees, while providing easy connections to London, Europe, and beyond. It has earned a reputation as a good place to build and grow biotech, medtech, and pharma busi- nesses. "Work is currently under way to ref urbish 50,000 f t 2 of laboratories and collaborative work- space, creating an incubator for start-up biotech and life science businesses, ready for occupation from August 2022," says Kennedy. Most recently, the organization launched Discovery Park Ventures—a private fund to invest in early-stage companies at start-up or to help them leverage funding without giving up substantial amounts of additional equity or ownership. "The fund will allow us to cham- pion companies that have the potential to make break- through-discoveries in life sciences and technology and to scale rapidly," Kennedy says. The UK also houses Science Creates, an ecosystem for deep tech start-ups and university spin outs based in Bristol. This organization aims to ensure that small companies working at the cutting edge of science have the best chance of survival. "By providing top-spec lab- oratories, a network of hands-on business support part- ners, and access to our specialist deep-tech venture cap- ital fund, we help game-changing technologies make it out of academic settings and into real-world markets," asserts Ashley Brewer, CEO, Science Creates. Science Creates was established when founder, Harry Destecroix, PhD, spun out a University of Bris- tol discovery into the company Ziylo and found that little to no support existed for highly technical sci- entific start-ups in the South West of England. As a result, he built the first Science Creates incubator in 2017, according to Brewer. When companies join Science Creates for incuba- tion, they don't just receive physical space in the form of labs, but access to a network of business support as well. Anyone from any member company can reach out to these network partners for free advice. This includes knowledge from legal experts, marketing strategists, intellectual property specialists, and more, Brewer explains. "The Science Creates team is small, but mighty," says Brewer. "We have extensive expertise in this sector, with a team consisting of deep-tech entrepreneurs, former lab managers and experienced scientists. We're here to solve problems and troubleshoot everything we can, so our members can focus on their science." Bridging the commercialization gulch Incubators have a distinct niche to fill, and role to play, connecting disparate scientists by shared facilities and services, and often this cross pollination allows for exotic approaches to blossom. They occupy a helpful space between accelarators, university tech transfer departments, traditional venture capital, and strate- gic investments from multinationals. Importantly, an incubator provides support at a vulnerable time in a fledgling organization's development path. Countries and regions who lack these kinds of support systems increasingly struggle to compete on the world stage. Because of this, incubators are highly valued for their ability to generate significant outcomes from compa- rably fewer dedicated resources. Reference 1. Ministr y of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania, "The Innovation Agency Lithuania Has Been Launched—A One-Stop Shop for Business Start, Development, and Innovation," Press Release, April 7, 2022. ■