Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, has opened the new headquarters for ReproCELL — a provider of products and services for research in stem cells, drug discovery, human tissue and 3D cell culture — in Glasgow.
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The new headquarters is expected to strengthen the company’s drug discovery services and translational research as well as generate new employment opportunities in Scotland.
“Life sciences is an exciting and developing growth sector for Scotland’s economy and it is testament to confidence in the sector that ReproCELL has decided to base its European operations here,” stated Sturgeon. “The jobs that are being created and safeguarded will provide significant benefit to the surrounding area and I am looking forward to seeing the company go from strength to strength in the future.”
The company’s relocation to the West of Scotland Science Park was supported by £150,000 of Regional Selective Assistance from Scottish Enterprise in December 2016. Since then, the company has further invested in expanding its European headquarters and product and services offering with an additional £630,000.
“Scottish Enterprise has worked closely with the company in Scotland, Europe, US and Japan to provide business support,” added Dr David Bunton, CEO of ReproCELL Europe. “This has included work from SDI field colleagues in Japan and across Europe to help identify potential customers, as well as tailored company support on the ground in Scotland to look at new market opportunities globally and extend existing testing services.”
Rhona Allison, company growth senior director at Scottish Enterprise, said: “ReproCELL’s new expertise in stem-cell reprogramming and 3D cell culture, together with its world class facilities are a further and significant boost to Scotland’s growing life sciences capabilities. The company’s confidence in Scotland is testament to the country’s global reputation in the sector and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the ReproCELL team to help them realise their growth ambitions.”
ReproCELL develops predictive assays using stem cells, 3D tissue models and fresh human tissues, which offer the pharmaceutical industry novel tools for investigating the safety and efficacy of new drug candidates early in the drug discovery process. The Centre for Predictive Drug Discovery will allow the company to continue to develop these lines of business by growing its Glasgow-based workforce and expand operations to focus on the launch of new services.