Contractors R G Carter started work on Monday (20th June 2016) constructing a bespoke facility to house the newly created Leaf Systems® bioscience business – just yards from the globally-acclaimed John Innes Centre (JIC) laboratory where the scientific breakthrough was made.
Norwich Research Partners LLP is facilitating the project. Chief executive officer Dr Sally Ann Forsyth said: “We are delighted to be playing our part in pump-priming such an exciting, innovative enterprise which has major potential for worldwide application and impact.
“One of our key objectives is to nurture bioscience business ventures established as spin-outs from research facilities based at the Park. We will do all that we can to help them prosper.”
RG Carter director and general manager Grant Keys said: “We are thrilled to have been awarded the contract to design and build the Leaf Systems facility at Norwich Research Park.
“Our involvement gives us the opportunity to further strengthen relationships with Norwich Research Park and enhance our growing reputation in the science and research sector.
“With a relatively short construction period, programme management will be critical and the integration of some very specialist equipment will also be key to the successful delivery of the project.”
Leaf Systems will employ the patented Hypertrans® technology, developed by JIC scientist Professor George Lomonossoff to produce new high value products, including pharmaceuticals and vaccines, under contract for international research and development partners. The technology is already being used under license to manufacture flu vaccines for clinical trials in Canada and the US.
Leaf Systems, general manager, Dr Steven Powell said: “We are working closely with the John Innes Centre to translate the Hypertrans technology into a successful commercial entity.
“The state-of-the-art building is a very important stage in this process and it is very exciting to see work commence on the building.”
Construction work should be completed within six months – and Leaf Systems expects to be fully operational by the end of March 2017.
Image: An artist’s impression of the Leaf Systems facility at Norwich Research Park. Construction began this week.
About Norwich Research Park
Norwich Research Park is home to over 12,000 people including 54 companies, 3,000 researchers and clinicians with an annual research spend of over £100 million.
Norwich Research Park is a partnership between the University of East Anglia, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, four independent world-renowned research institutes namely the John Innes Centre, Institute of Food Research and The Genome Analysis Centre (all strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)) and The Sainsbury Laboratory linked to the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. The BBSRC is itself a partner as is the John Innes Foundation.
The main strength of Norwich Research Park is the concentration of world-leading scientists coupled with the capability for multidisciplinary research. We continue to build on this by attracting new partners and innovative businesses to the Park to collaborate in our research and to develop our vision.
About the John Innes Centre
The John Innes Centre is an independent, international centre of excellence in plant science and microbiology.
Our mission is to generate knowledge of plants and microbes through innovative research, to train scientists for the future, to apply our knowledge of nature’s diversity to benefit agriculture, the environment, human health and wellbeing, and engage with policy makers and the public.
To achieve these goals, we establish pioneering long-term research objectives in plant and microbial science, with a focus on genetics. These objectives include promoting the translation of research through partnerships to develop improved crops and to make new products from microbes and plants for human health and other applications. We also create new approaches, technologies and resources that enable research advances and help industry to make new products. The knowledge, resources and trained researchers we generate help global societies address important challenges including providing sufficient and affordable food, making new products for human health and industrial applications, and developing sustainable bio-based manufacturing.
This provides a fertile environment for training the next generation of plant and microbial scientists, many of whom go on to careers in industry and academia, around the world.
The John Innes Centre is strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). In 2014-2015 the John Innes Centre received a total of £36.9 million from the BBSRC. The John Innes Centre is the winner of the BBSRC’s 2013 - 2016 Excellence With Impact award.
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Media contacts:
Victoria Thompson, Head of Marketing, Norwich Research Park
Tel: 01603 673 675
Email: [email protected]
Harry Mitchell, Promote Marketing
Tel: 01603 881 983
Email: [email protected]
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