‘Scientific phoenix’ rising at park that was hit by closure

Five years ago, supporters of Listerhills Science Park in Bradford were stunned when a major employer moved out.

American drug development company Nektar Therapeutics announced that it was closing its office in Listerhills, due to financial pressures, with the loss of around 60 jobs.

The decision must have saddened Bradford’s business community.

Nektar Therapeutics had acquired Bradford Particle Design in 2001 for $200m. At the time, it was one of the biggest ever deals for a university spin-out company.

Bradford Particle Design’s success had been a testament to Yorkshire’s growing importance as a base for hi-tech industries.

Nektar’s facilities had included several million pounds worth of state of the art equipment, including a ‘clean room’ for drug product manufacture.

However, unlike many employers who leave staff in the lurch following an office closure, Nektar helped a team of academics to start again.

Four employees from Nektar launched Agenda1 Analytical Services on the science park.

They also got the chance to use some of Nektar’s equipment.

Ian Siragher, the managing director of Agenda1, said yesterday: “A scientific phoenix is rising from the ashes,

“Listerhills is intended to be a specialist science park and over the last five years I feel Agenda1 is one of a few companies doing the name justice.”

Agenda1 has invested around £500,000 in new equipment, which is helping it to provide analytical services to drug development companies around the world.

Agenda1 is investing in the science park, bringing clients, subcontractors, equipment manufacturers and other specialists to the site. The firm is also allowing start-up companies to use its fully equipped labs. It has also taken on nearly half the space left vacant by Nektar.

Mr Siragher said: “I urge other science based companies to join us at Listerhills, where we have the nucleus for a thriving science hub.

“Bradford’s economy was originally driven by textiles but now it’s time for science to step forward and take the leading role for the future of the city.

“When we initially took over the space from Nektar we took two units, numbers 67 and 61.

“Since then we have moved into 65, which has quadrupled our office space, and now 57, which has added a further 60 per cent or so to our lab space as well as a further 30 per cent to our office space. We have 15 people on the books, with another member of staff about to join us.

“The maximum numbers of staff we could fit into the space we have now is around 20. Turnover is running at £1.3m a year; this figure has doubled every two years.

“In three years’ time, if we decide it is appropriate to keep growing as we are, I would expect us to have taken two more units. This will add 40 per cent or so to both lab and office space. We would probably have between 30 and 35 people. The work does seem to be there, but the challenge is to grow in a sustainable way.

“With a staff of 30 to 35 people, and 80 to 85 per cent of them doing analytical work, I’d expect turnover to be around £2.4m to £2.6m.”

The company’s partners are mainly drawn from the pharmaceutical industry, but it also works with any organisation that has a need for data to support research and development.

These can include virtual and start-up companies that are developing pharmaceutical products and firms looking to introduce ‘break-through’ changes to their industries.

Many of them are requiring scientific data to support their research, marketing, or intellectual property. Other partners work within industries, such as food and pharmaceuticals, that need to meet regulatory standards. In recent years, Agenda1 has been involved in research linked to the development of the bone substitute industry.

A man-made porous material is created from a material, hydroxyapatite, which consists of two elements. The material is mixed into a paste, and then surgeons paste it into the spine or skull. Blood vessels are allowed to grow through it.

Listerhills Science Park, which dates from the 1980s, has been owned by commercial property firm Ashtenne since 2003.

David Wassell, the asset manager for Ashtenne who is responsible for Listerhills, said the 50 unit park was about 65 to 70 per cent full, and around 250 people worked there.

Leading the way

Bradford’s importance as a base for science was underlined this month when The British Science Festival came to the city.

Each year the festival travels to a different UK location, bringing the latest in science, technology and engineering

Technology which allows disabled people to control electric wheelchairs simply by moving their eyes was launched at the British Science Festival. Academics from Bradford University hope the breakthrough could help severely disabled people who up until now have not been able to move independently.

The research, led by Dr Prashant Pillai and involving masters student Suraj Verma, led to the development of a unique eye-controlled robot last year.