Biotech pioneers prosper in Manchester

MANCHESTER is at the heart of the fastest-growing sector of the biotechnology industry which is said to be worth around £8bn.

Several firms are now based in the city that are leading the way in the field of molecular diagnostics – a combination of diagnostics with genetic analysis.

The 13-year Human Genome Project, which concluded in 2003, mapped the make-up of DNA and this knowledge enabled the biotech industry to move one step beyond testing hormones and glucose to measuring genes and gene variations to indicate the best treatments for certain conditions.

These businesses have emerged from technology pioneered at the University of Manchester or from the existing North West pharmaceutical industry and have attracted investment from larger multi-nationals.

DxS was launched by two AstraZeneca scientists, Dr Steve Little and Dr David Whitcombe, in 2001 and it was acquired in September 2009 by German group Qiagen in a deal which valued it at £80m. Since then it has doubled in size employing 150 staff who develop kits that make it easier for doctors to prescribe the most effective treatments for various forms of cancer.

The other large player is Wythenshawe-based Gen-Probe, a US-owned company which acquired Tepnel Life Sciences in 2009 for £93m and turned it into its European headquarters. The company now bills itself as the largest standalone molecular diagnostics company in the world. Its work includes screening donated blood for diseases, transplant diagnostics – checking donated organs will be accepted by the recipient – and women’s health, which involves tests for sexually transmitted diseases.

“There are a number of attractive aspects to Manchester,” says vice president of corporate communications Mike Watts. “The employee base gives us the ability to recruit locally and its location, with the airport, helps with logistics.

“Today, the vast majority of our manufacturing is done in San Diego but one of our strategic areas is expanding the European base.”

There is also Myconostica – a University of Manchester spin-out based at the Core Technology Facility – and AIM-listed Epistem, which emerged from the university’s Paterson Institute for Cancer Research. It carries out research for the large pharmaceutical firms to see how effective drugs in development are in treating particular diseases and has also developed Genedrive, a portable diagnostic machine which the firm says could revolutionise the way in which diagnoses are made.

“Particularly because of Tepnel and DxS the region has emerged with real strength and depth in molecular diagnostics which is just about the hottest area in biotech,” says Qiagen’s Dr Little, pictured.

“If I was going to set up another molecular diagnostics firm in the UK I’d be coming to Manchester. There’s an awful lot of talent in Manchester but five years ago there was little experience. But now with us and Gen-Probe there’s a lot of experience and if you want to find experienced staff this is where you would come. We’d struggle to compete with Boston or San Fransisco but in Europe this is the place.”

All these companies manufacture products in Manchester, a decision which Dr Little, pictured, believes will help further entrench the sector in the region.

“A lot of companies our size and in our position would say ‘we’re not going to do manufacturing ourselves’. But we want to and once you’ve got manufacturing in place with a hi-tech business it’s difficult to shift. The margins in our business are high so it’s much more important to do it right. By putting manufacturing into the business you create an anchor.

“The lesson is if you want to do it don’t just be a research and development group that could be moved anywhere around the world, but a proper manufacturing base. It’s not immobile but it’s more difficult to shift.”