Aberdeen’s transformational BioHub secures £2 million Scottish Enterprise investment

The transformational BioHub project to accelerate the growth of pioneering life sciences companies in Aberdeen has received a £2 million funding boost from Scottish Enterprise.

Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, Kate Forbes MSP, visited the construction site of the new-build BioHub in Aberdeen as the additional funding was confirmed.

BioHub is a £40million investment to double the size of north east Scotland’s high-value life sciences sector. It will be home to spinout, start-up and scaling businesses bringing new drugs, treatments, therapies and technology to market and creating high-skill jobs in the fast-growing industry sector.

Ms Forbes said: “This additional £2 million investment in BioHub aligns closely with the Scottish Government’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation, highlighting the importance of strong regional economic partnerships, skills and retraining and focused support for new markets.

“The BioHub will support ambitious life sciences businesses to grow, including through the creation of highly skilled jobs in Aberdeen, the North East and more widely. Through the Aberdeen City Region Deal the Scottish Government is contributing £125 million to the area over ten years.

“We want to enable everyone to contribute to, and benefit from, a more prosperous, more productive and more internationally competitive economy.”

Opportunity North East (ONE) is the lead partner and a co-funder of BioHub, which has secured £20 million of capital funding jointly provided by the Scottish Government and UK Government via the Aberdeen City Region Deal. ONE has committed up to £5.6million to BioHub, and NHS Grampian and the University of Aberdeen are strategic partners in the project.

The £2 million of new Scottish Enterprise funding will support the final fit-out of the building and the incubator space in BioHub for spinout and start-up businesses.

Scottish Enterprise's Neil Francis said: “As the North East transitions to the growth sectors of the future, we are pleased to announce this funding and become a key partner in the BioHub. Life sciences as an industry is crucial to the future success of Scotland’s economy and Scottish Enterprise recognises the importance of helping put Scotland at the forefront of the sector.

“Our funding will support the fit-out of incubator space for spinout and start-up businesses to support them to grow, innovate and drive our economy in the years to come.”

The iconic BioHub building will open in late autumn and provide a combination of specialist space and support for the sector. It will house up to 400 scientific entrepreneurs and 40 tenant businesses at total capacity. 

BioHub is a flagship addition to the city’s Foresterhill Health Campus, one of Europe’s largest integrated clinical, research and teaching sites for life sciences and medicine and will catalyse further collaborative innovation across the academic, commercial, and healthcare community.

During her visit, Ms Forbes met life sciences leaders from Aberdeen companies NovaBiotics, Elasmogen and TauRx, who have championed the development of BioHub as a focal point for life sciences business creation and growth, at a roundtable hosted by ONE.

The life sciences sector is a thriving part of Scotland’s economy, with a turnover of £6.6 billion, employing 40,000 people across over 750 organisations and on target to achieve £8 billion turnover by 2025.

Chair of ONE Life Sciences and BioAberdeen and Chief Executive of NovaBiotics, Dr Deborah O’Neil, said: “Aberdeen has world-class research and innovation strengths in life sciences – across our companies, universities and NHS – and a track record of producing exciting new businesses. The ongoing investment in BioHub will help accelerate commercialisation and business growth to bring new therapies, treatments, and technology to market.

“I’m grateful to Scottish Enterprise for its funding and to the Cabinet Secretary for visiting Aberdeen. Their continuing commitment to this transformational project will provide early-stage and established businesses with specialist facilities and support to grow and stay in the region.”

Jennifer Craw, Chief Executive of ONE, said: “The continuing investment in BioHub demonstrates the effectiveness of having a long-term economic vision and strategy, backed by public and private funding targeting transformational projects in our key growth sectors.

"BioHub will support growing businesses and high-value jobs, and accelerate innovation to market that impacts health and wellbeing. These benefits will be felt regionally and nationally and underline this region’s ability to provide significant economic returns on investment. The new Scottish Enterprise funding, which we welcome, further recognises the region’s potential and track record of delivery.”

Professor George Boyne, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, said: “We’re delighted to see this investment in the Aberdeen BioHub which will play such an important role in further enhancing the region’s standing as a leading life sciences centre and contributing to the wider post-pandemic recovery.

“The University of Aberdeen is delighted to be a delivery partner in this project and to bring to the table our research expertise in entrepreneurship, start-ups, consultancy and commercialisation.”

The additional funding was also welcomed by Aberdeenshire Council and Aberdeen City Council, the public sector partners in the Aberdeen City Region Deal, and BioHub project partner NHS Grampian.