
Life Sciences Digest #1
The latest news from the Life Sciences sector, from medical innovation to start-ups and funding. Featuring B4 Members Owen Mumford, Partners&, Oxford North, Penningtons Manches Cooper and many more.

How to manage cyber risk when insurance is hard to get
Life science businesses are facing an increasingly challenging landscape in securing cyber insurance. Cyber-attacks are spiraling in scale, frequency and ingenuity. For example, the volume of ransomware attacks increased by 150% in 2020, while the amount paid by victims of these attacks increased more than 300% in the same period.

Thomas White Oxford agrees joint venture with Cadillac Fairview and Stanhope...
Thomas White Oxford Ltd, the development company of St John’s College, has agreed a 50:50 joint venture partnership with Canadian-based Cadillac Fairview, the real estate arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, with developer Stanhope PLC, to deliver Oxford North, Oxford, UK, the £700 million new global innovation district.

Penningtons Manches Cooper advises medtech business Orthox on $12.5 million Series...
The corporate team at Penningtons Manches Cooper has advised Oxford University spin-out Orthox Limited on the completion of a further $4.3 million (£3.2 million) to close its $12.5 million (£9.2 million) Series A financing round.

Owen Mumford announces verified science-based targets and plans for net zero
Owen Mumford, a global leader in the design, manufacture and advancement of medical devices, has announced its emissions reduction targets through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The company has set a target to achieve net zero by 2045 (to mirror the UK NHS target) in alignment with the recommendations of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

The green imperative for medical device businesses
The global healthcare system is a large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, representing 4.4% of the total worldwide footprint.¹ Supply chains occupy a significant share of this contribution. In the UK, for instance, 62% of the National Health Service’s emissions footprint came from the supply chain in 2019.²

PENNINGTONS MANCHES COOPERS CORPORATE TEAM ADVISES ON MAJOR CROSS-BORDER LIFE SCIENCES...
The Penningtons Manches Cooper corporate team has advised the shareholders of ATDBio on its sale to NASDAQ Stockholm listed Biotage AB. The purchase price was approximately £45m on a debt free and cash free basis. ATDBio was founded in 2005 by Professor Tom Brown (Snr), one of the world’s leading nucleic acids chemists, Dr Dorcas […]

FOCUS Oxford Risk Management reach the finals of life sciences award
FOCUS Oxford Risk Management, part of Partners&, has reached the finals of the prestigious OBN Awards. The awards, now in their 13th year, celebrate the achievements of individuals and companies in the life sciences sector. Partners& is a leading insurance and employee benefits advisory business.

EquiTrace secures funding €1.25m from HBAN and Enterprise Ireland to develop...
EquiTrace, a unique app for horses that combines identity, GPS and medical records data using a scanner, a microchip and a mobile phone, has signed an investment agreement with a syndicate of HBAN angel investors led by Brendan Nevin, CEO of Code Institute for 1million euros. Enterprise Ireland will also be investing in the company, providing 250,000 euros. EquiTrace will use the investment to grow the company, building a sales and development team as well as investing in marketing, and focus on global expansion.

Owen Mumford launches new 2-step single-use auto-injector platform Aidaptus®
Industry first single-use auto-injector for both 1ml and 2.25 pre-filled syringes with versatile design for different fill volumes in the same device.

Further government funding supports phase II R&D lab conversion at The...
The Oxford Trust, the local charity encouraging the pursuit of science and enterprise, is to commence the second phase of its conversion of dedicated high spec laboratory facilities at its Wood Centre for Innovation in Headington, Oxford, following £0.2 million additional Local Growth Fund support, secured by the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP).

DJS Antibodies moves to newly converted lab space at The Oxford...
Biotech start-up, DJS Antibodies, is the second company to move into the newly converted class II laboratory space at The Oxford Trust’s Wood Centre for Innovation.

£0.5 million Headington life science laboratory development at The Oxford Trust’s...
The Oxford Trust, the local charity encouraging the pursuit of science and enterprise, is to undertake a half million-pound project to install life science laboratory facilities at its Wood Centre for Innovation in Headington, Oxford, to increase capacity for the local innovation ecosystem and has received £0.1 million in funding towards the project via the Government’s Local Growth Fund, secured by the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP).
More in Science

Science and tech businesses invited to public outreach event.
Businesses, university departments and research groups will once again gather in the unique setting of Abingdon’s historic Market Place for the ATOM Festival “Science Market” on 11th March.

Samsara Therapeutics expands into new R&D lab space at the Wood...
Biotech start-up Samsara Therapeutics, an early-stage drug discovery company, has expanded into a further 1,000 sq ft of R&D lab space at The Oxford Trust’s Wood Centre for Innovation in Headington, Oxford’s Health and Life Sciences District to accommodate company growth.

Kick-start opportunity for a science-based start-up to benefit from over £10k...
Kick-start opportunity for a science-based start-up to benefit from over £10k of lab and business support for one-year at Oxfordshire’s Heyford Park Innovation centre. Biotech start-ups are invited to enter a competition to win a 12-month lab space and business support package at Heyford Park Innovation Centre (HPIC) in Oxfordshire. The prize, which is worth […]
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HENLEY FESTIVAL REVEALS UNMISSABLE LINEUP FOR 2023
5 – 9 July 2023 | henley-festival.co.uk | #HenleyFestival | @henleyfestival

Let’s talk turkey!
Hot off the press – some topical food for thought with a distinctly seasonal flavour and certainly something for businesses to chew over and digest to ensure that they keep abreast of the latest thinking in branding and have a tried and tested recipe for success that isn’t bland for the new year ahead.
By PHIL STRACHAN – The Think Brand not bland Guy

Agnes Smith Advice Centre Appeal
How we are helping the poorest in Oxford? At the Agnes Smith Advice Centre in Blackbird Leys, we have provided benefits and debt advice to more than 1400 residents over the last year, keeping people in their homes and helping them keep warm and fed.
We are at the heart of one of the most deprived communities in the UK and people come to us when they don’t know where else to turn.