BBT's BioDevelopment Buildings

The success of Babraham's Bioincubator model led to plans to expand the campus and provide space for growth of early stage bioventures, as well as the creation of a new vehicle to support technology translation, Aitua Ltd.

BBT has spearheaded the development of new commercial properties on the Babraham Research Campus to promote knowledge transfe bringong together the Babraham Institute's world-class science base with innovative ventures to exploit new bio-technologies relating to human healthcare.

The new BioDevelopment buildings provide larger premises for companies requiring grow-on space. They offer fully-fitted laboratory and office accommodation with flexible short term leases. The first of these, "Minerva" , was completed in December 2004 and is fully occupied. Construction of the second building, named Meditrina after the Roman goddess of medicine, commenced in September 2006 and will be for occupancy by 1st October 2007.

Thereafter there are outline plans for around 160,000 sq ft of additional commercial premises on the Babraham Research Campus that will provide facilities for mid and later stage bioventures. Throughout these developments, the Babraham Group considers the environmental impact of new buildings on the surrounding landscapes and seeks environmentally- conscious specifications and design. We are committed to protecting our environment and understanding our environmental impacts, monitoring and reducing any adverse impacts of the organisations' operations on the environment and local community.

Minerva
'Minerva', named after the Roman goddess of wisdom, was the first BioDevelopment Building was completed in December 2004. Fully occupied since September 2005, Minerva was officially opened on 29th June 2006 by Mr Phil Willis MP, Chair of the House of Commons' Science and Technology Select Committee, who said,

"It is a huge privilege to officially open the new 'Minerva' research facility which offers emerging biotech companies state of the art facilities to bring excellent science to the market. This facility is a superb example of how government funding can stimulate knowledge transfer by sponsoring direct links between academia and industry and stimulating wealth creation in the regions."

The building offers fully-fitted laboratory and office accommodation on flexible leases providing grow-on units for early stage bioventures as they make the transition out of incubation facilities. This is part of BBT's innovative approach to supporting start-up and early stage biomedical ventures.

Meditrina
The construction of Meditrina commenced September 2006 and offers 20,500 sq ft of laboratory and office accommodation in units of 1,000 sq ft, which are let as individual or multiple units on flexible terms to suit early stage bioventures.

The accommodation has been built to a high design standard, sympathetically integrated into the campus. Meditrina has been fully let since December 2007.

Maia
There are plans to build a third Biodevelopment building on site.