Newcastle TusPark Successfully Hosts 2025 Bio-Tech RoundtablePrint

Post Time：2025-08-14来源：TusHoldings

The 2025 Newcastle Biotech Roundtable was recently held successfully at the newly upgraded Newcastle TusPark. As a key hub for the technology innovation ecosystem in Northeast England, Newcastle TusPark has brought together top-tier institutions through its efficient incubator model, including robotics and new materials leader Wootzano, the Newcastle branch of Scotland’s largest accounting firm Johnson Carmichael, renowned digital marketing agency Bonded, century-old patent firm Mathys & Squire, and Barclays Eagle Labs. It has become a core engine for regional technology development.

The event was opened with addresses by Lin Zhuocun, President of TusPark UK, and Meng Wei, Director of Innovation of TusPark UK, and was co-hosted by Professor Che Connon, a well-known UK serial entrepreneur and expert in university spin-offs. The roundtable focused on innovation and investment in the biotech sector, attracting nearly 100 guests from enterprises, investment institutions, industry associations, and policymakers to discuss pathways for scaling Newcastle’s biotech industry.

High-Level Perspectives: Policy and Industry Synergy

The roundtable featured insights from several business and government leaders:

Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle Central & West, outlined her “Innovation Showcase”, which promotes one innovative UK company each week during parliamentary hearings to systematically break down barriers to scaling.

Dace Dimza-Jones, Deputy Head of Northern Powerhouse Life Sciences at the Department for Business & Trade(DBT), analyzed foreign investment trends in the UK life sciences sector and emphasized Newcastle’s strategic role in the northern innovation corridor.

Rob Hamilton, Head of Economic Strategy and Innovation, North East Combined Authority, shared the regional economic innovation strategy under new Mayor Kim McGuinness, proposing to accelerate technology commercialization through a "research-industry-capital" closed loop.

Capital Trends: Growing Biotech Investment in the Northeast

Alex Buchan, Investment Director at Northstar Ventures UK, presented latest data showing a 35% year-on-year increase in life sciences funding in Northeast England in 2024, with diagnostic technologies and alternative testing models becoming key focuses for capital. Alex Wright, Senior Account Manager at Newcastle Gateshead Initiative (NGI), revealed that the expansion of the Helix Biosphere Labs is set for completion in 2026, providing world-class biomanufacturing and testing facilities to further attract global industry chain companies.

Startup Highlights: Newcastle Innovators Making Strides

The roundtable showcased breakthroughs from three local companies:

l  Nanovery (nanorobot diagnostic platform): Completed a £1.1 million funding round in April 2025, with its RNA therapy technology advancing to preclinical trials.

l  Newcells Biotech (3D human tissue models): Secured £1.2 million in December 2024, reducing the need for animal testing in drug development by 90%.

l  Aelius Biotech (gene editing tools): Raised £750,000 in April 2025, planning to establish its first R&D center outside North America in Newcastle.

Colin Tan, Operations Director of TusPark UK, concluded: "These cases demonstrate that the key to Newcastle companies’ global competitiveness lies in building an open, collaborative ecosystem and precisely connecting with international capital." Professor Che Connon added: "In an uncertain economic environment, data-driven strategic resilience and regional collaborative strength will be core to sustained growth."

As a key node in TusPark’s global innovation network, Newcastle Inspire Tech Park has hosted the Biotech Roundtable for three consecutive years, with last year’s event held in London in collaboration with the UK Parliament. This year’s roundtable not only strengthened multi-stakeholder collaboration among industry, academia, capital, and government but also injected new momentum into the UK’s "Northern Powerhouse" initiative. Moving forward, TusPark will continue to foster cross-border resource integration, supporting the Northeast’s rise as a European life sciences innovation hub.