Oxford Genetics opens new facility to support R&D in cell and gene therapy

Piers Scrimshaw-Wright, MD of The Oxford Science Park and Ryan Cawood, CEO, Oxford Genetics Ltd.

The new facilities includes dedicated cell development suites and new robotic platforms for process automation.

The move from Begbroke Science Park to the Medawar Centre increases the company’s laboratory space to 5,700 sq ft and forms part of Oxford Genetics’ on-going growth strategy as it expands its operations to support new services for cancer fighting technologies.

The company has experienced rapid growth in the last 12 months and has scaled its infrastructure and team to support its customer base in the biopharmaceutical industry. Oxford Genetics will use its new location to increase research and development into services to support cell and gene therapy, which is currently being trialled as a potentially effective, non-harmful treatment for cancer and many genetic disorders, and is a sector identified by the company as a key market for growth.

The new facilities will also include dedicated cell development suites and new robotic platforms for process automation. This will allow Oxford Genetics to scale its services, following an increase in demand from new and existing customers.

Commenting on the expansion, Ryan Cawood, chief executive officer, Oxford Genetics said: “As Oxford Genetics continues to grow, it is essential that we build capacity to accommodate our expanding team and suite of technologies and services. The dedicated facilities will enable us to meet more client requests, and allows us to broaden our customers’ access to the full spectrum of technologies that our scientists have developed.”

Piers Scrimshaw-Wright, managing director, The Oxford Science Park said: “Oxford Genetics has demonstrated unprecedented growth and we are thrilled that we are able to accommodate them as they continue their research and development into services to support cell and gene therapy.”

The opening of Oxford Genetics’ new facility follows the recent announcement that the company has appointed three industry veterans to its board: Dr Matt Baker, Dr Paul Brooks and Dr David Hames. The appointments further strengthen its position as a market leader in DNA design, protein expression and virus and cell line development.