£40m facility in Birmingham’s life sciences district
A £40m new hub for medical and health tech innovation has been unveiled in Birmingham’s life sciences district.
No.1 BHIC (Birmingham Health Innovation Campus) is a five-story building offering 133,000 sq ft of cutting-edge lab and office space to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses.
Located at the heart of Birmingham’s health and life sciences district, the building, in Selly Oak, was constructed by Bruntwood SciTech, which only has 10,000 sq ft left to lease in No.1 BHIC.
‘Centre for health innovation’
Chris Oglesby, CEO for Bruntwood SciTech, said: “The launch of BHIC marks a pivotal moment for Birmingham’s growing reputation as a centre for health innovation. With pioneering occupiers such as PHTA and Clinical Immunology Services, we’re already seeing world-class research being delivered from within this very building.
“Our ambition for the site has always been to create a place where science, clinical expertise and industry can come together to accelerate new ideas and improve health outcomes. Now that vision is becoming reality and, with it, a new opportunity for Birmingham to lead the way in translating research into real impact, creating skilled jobs and strengthening the region’s role on the national life sciences stage.”
Life Sciences Week
The opening of No.1 BHIC took place on day two of the inaugural West Midlands Life Sciences Week, a celebration of health innovation from September 15 to 19, which launched on Monday at Millennium Point, Birmingham.
VIP attendees, each of whom spoke at the launch ceremony, included Al Carns, MP for Selly Oak and Minister for Armed Forces; Richard Parker, West Midlands Mayor; Dr Kath Mackay, chief scientific officer at Brentwood SciTech; Gail Marzetti, Director of Science, Research and Evidence at the Department of Health and Social Care; and Neil Hanley, Pro-Vice Chancellor at UoB.
No.1 BHIC’s anchor tenant is the Precision Health Technologies Accelerator (PHTA), which supports start-ups and scale-ups developing precision medicine and digital health solutions. PHTA, a University of Birmingham (UoB) spin-off organisation, occupies the top three floors of the five-storey building.
Professor Gino Martini, PHTA’s CEO, said: “No.1 BHIC is an environment designed to encourage start-ups to turn their innovations into market-ready reality, building on the pioneering history of health tech this city.”
The building will also be home to the University’s Birmingham Centre for Anatomy, Surgical and Clinical Skills (B-CASCS), providing students with unparalleled opportunities to advance their practical learning in simulated environments that mirror real-world healthcare settings and scenarios.
“We are excited at the prospect of sharing No.1 BHIC with UoB’s medical and life sciences students, many of whom may go on to become entrepreneurs in the sector themselves,” added Prof Martini.
Another important tenant in No.1BHIC is UoB’s Clinical Immunology Services, led by Professor Alex Richter.
‘£40m investment demonstrates the ambition of this city’
Professor Paul Cadman, co-founder of Life Sciences Week, said: “No.1 BHIC is a stunning facility – a £40m investment which demonstrates the ambition of this city, and this region, as it becomes the UK epicentre of health tech and med tech.”
He added: “Life Sciences Week is bringing together biotech and med tech experts, entrepreneurs, investors and big brands to enable the growth of the life sciences sector – and shape a better future for this generation and the next.”
Life Sciences Week is focused on the following four goals:
- Pharmaceutical & biotech: drug discovery, novel therapies, global research.
- Medical technology & diagnostics: tools, devices, diagnostics, clinical practice.
- Academic institutions: university research shared with the private sector.
- Investors: emerging ventures and opening doors to capital and scaling opportunities.
