The most innovative life sciences companies in the Thames Valley

The life sciences sector includes all sorts of businesses engaged in the development, production and distribution of pharmaceuticals, food and drugs based on biotechnology, biomedical technologies, cosmeceuticals, nutraceuticals and other products. All designed to enhance and improve people's health.

Across the world, you'll see that the very best life sciences companies are often clustered and based in quite specific areas. It stands to reason that the very best R&D, pharma, biotech and healthcare firms are based near top quality universities.

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Perhaps the two most notable homes of life sciences in the West are centred around Harvard and Cambridge Universities. A not too distant third? Well, arguably Oxford is in line for bronze.

That in mind, the Thames Valley is a something of a life sciences hub. In fact, the area can boast more than 135 companies and 8,000 employees in the industry.

October's 2022 Thames Valley Tech Awards isn't far away, so we decided to present four of the most innovative companies in the area that are pushing innovation on a daily basis...

Exscientia - Oxford

Based out of Oxford Science Park's Schrödinger Building, Exscientia are a worldwide pharmatech organisation which uses 'patient-first artificial intelligence' to discover better medicines. They've been at the forefront of small molecule drug discovery for a decade now, applying AI and big data processing to accelerate drug discovery and development.

Their work is so well regarded that they've seen hundreds of millions of US Dollars' worth of investment, including $35 million equity investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Last year they filed for a $100 million Nasdaq IPO.

At any one point, Exscientia have 20-30 complex projects in the process, all looking to see how much AI can been employed to help treat and cure diseases such as cancer, inflammation and all sorts of rare diseases.

Becton Dickinson - Winnersh Triangle

Also known as BD, Becton Dickinson are a global medical tech firm that 'manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems and reagents.' BD also provides consulting and analytics services.

HQ'd over in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, their UK base can be found at Winnersh Triangle, between Reading and Wokingham. BD UK leads the way in technologies that support clinical labs and medical research, as well as in the security of patients and healthcare workers.

Oxford Biomedica - Oxford

Established in 1995 as a spin out from the University of Oxford, Oxford Biomedica are a leading gene and cell therapy company.

Involved in the development of the AstraZeneca adenoviral-based COVID-19 vaccine, they have many strong and impressive partnerships with some of the industry's biggest names. These include: Novartis, Boehringer Ingelheim, Beam Therapeutics, Juno Therapeutics/Bristol Myers Squibb, Arcellx, Santen, Cabaletta and Orchard Therapeutics.

In their own words: 'We have built a sector leading viral vector platform, including our lentiviral vector delivery system, LentiVector® platform, which we leverage to develop in vivo and ex vivo products both in-house and with partners. We have also created a valuable proprietary portfolio of gene and cell therapy product candidates in the areas of oncology, CNS disorders and liver diseases.'

Beckley Psytech - Oxford

Beckley Psytech involve themselves in a fascinating emerging market of scientific research and development. The Oxford-based company are dedicated to discovering new applications for psychedelics in medicine, specifically the treatment of mental health disorders.

It can be a challenging field to work in, given the regulatory issues that surround the use of controlled substances, but Beckley are committed to creating and developing 'a pipeline of psychedelic compounds into licensed pharmaceutical medicines to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders.'

What started as conceptual and theoretical is becoming a reality with the Oxford company receiving £58m in investment in 2021, which will help further their vital mission.

This is no fringe market, though. This for-profit organisation operate in a psychedelic therapeutics market which is forecast to be worth over £6bn in just six years.

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