Cambridge 04 January 2021: Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd (BBT), the organisation which oversees the development and day-to-day management of the Babraham Research Campus is pleased to welcome three new members to its board.

Professor Wolf Reik FRS, acting Director, Babraham Institute has been nominated by the Babraham Institute to represent its Trustees shareholder interests. Wolf replaces Clive Page, Professor of Pharmacology and Director of the Sackler Institute of Pulmonary Pharmacology at King’s College London, who is stepping down after many years’ of committed service to the business.

Wolf Reik commented of his appointment: “I am very excited to join the BBT board and look forward to contributing to the collaboration between the Institute, BBT, Campus companies, and UKRI-BBSRC to further develop this vibrant campus, which is already an international showcase demonstrating how cutting edge fundamental science connects with cutting edge biotech development. As the Campus continues to evolve my hope and expectation is that it will continue to attract an increasingly diverse set of new talent; leading to new career ideas and opportunities at the interface of fundamental bioscience and its translation.”

Alexander Hewitson, Head of Operations, AstraZeneca and Dr Clive Stanway, an independent cancer drug discovery and development advisor, most recently with Cancer Research UK, also join the board as independent non-executive directors.

Alex Hewitson commented: “I am delighted to be joining the BBT Board at such an exciting time for both the Babraham Research Campus and the wider Cambridge life-science cluster. The Babraham Research Campus is at the forefront in supporting the UK’s bioscience enterprises and in delivering a supportive ecosystem across life science research; as such I look forward to helping shape its continued success.”

Clive Stanway added: “I’ve always found the Babraham Research Campus to be an inspirational setting for biomedical research and I’m therefore delighted to be joining the BBT board to help drive the next steps for this exciting community.”

Dr Andy Richards, CBE, Chairman, BBT Board said: “It is a real pleasure to welcome Wolf, Alex and Clive to the BBT Board, as we look forward to the next stages of development of the Babraham Research Campus.  They bring particular knowledge, skills and capabilities that complement those of the existing board, and with their experience encompassing deep scientific research, through to the commercial life sciences, coupled with the construction and operation of world class science facilities, will enhance our ability to deliver our ambitious strategy.  The board sets the strategic direction of the Campus in line with the Campus vision to be the best place in Europe to start and scale up a life science business. I have great confidence in the board, along with the executive team, to take the Campus to new levels of success, providing an unparalleled environment for our Campus companies to succeed.” He added: “I would also like to thank Professor Clive Page for the immense contribution that he has made to the Campus during his tenure on the BBT Board.”

Already considered to be one of the UK’s leading campus’ to support early-stage bioscience enterprise, the Babraham Research Campus is home to the Babraham Institute and over 60 bioscience companies – a community of over 2,000 people. The companies who chose the Campus as the location from which to start and build their life-science enterprises are based on the best of global scientific discoveries, often generated in the region’s universities and research institutes.

The strong contribution the Babraham Research Campus makes to both the commercialisation of life science research and the life science knowledge base; enabling entrepreneur driven businesses (including academic spin-outs) to form and facilitating collaboration, was evidenced in a report published earlier this year. The report - the result of research conducted by an academic team from the University of Cambridge - demonstrated the benefits and outputs from the significant public investment into the Campus and evidenced the overall economic, social and scientific contribution the Campus makes to the UK economy.

To find out more about the Babraham Research Campus and BBT Board please visit:  https://www.babraham.com/team/the-board/