Capability access
GMP and cell and gene manufacturing in Stevenage
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (NASA)Where can a therapeutics company have GMP material made in Britain?
Stevenage is Britain's densest cell and gene cluster. This is what the evidence shows about manufacturing access there, and the national routes for the stages Stevenage does not cover.
Evidence on this page was last verified 2026-08-19. Where a claim cannot be sourced, UKIZ withholds it rather than estimating.
Available here
Capability the evidence places in this ecosystem itself.
Incubator, accelerator and Lab Hotel wet-lab space
Open-innovation bioscience campus offering incubator benches, accelerator suites and a rent-free Lab Hotel for early-stage companies, co-located with GSK R&D.
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst — Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, Hertfordshire
How you get in: Application to the campus incubator or Lab Hotel programme
Conditions: Lab Hotel is rent-free for six months for selected early-stage companies; other space on commercial terms
Source: Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst · verified 2026-08-19
GMP cell and gene therapy manufacturing (Stevenage)
Modular GMP manufacturing suites and process development for advanced therapies, offered to external collaborators.
Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult — Stevenage Manufacturing Innovation Centre
How you get in: Collaboration or service agreement with the Catapult
Conditions: Collaboration agreement; collaborators retain intellectual property; MHRA licensing arrangements apply
Source: Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult · verified 2026-08-19
Connected UK route
Not local, but reachable. Britain shares this capability nationally.
Cell and gene therapy manufacture to GMP
GMP-grade cleanroom manufacture for advanced therapies
Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult manufacturing centre — Stevenage
How you get in: Contracted tenancy or manufacturing agreement with the centre
Conditions: Capacity is contracted well ahead; entry requires a defined process and a regulatory pathway
Source: Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult · verified 2026-08-19
Pilot-scale fermentation (Scotland route)
Alternative regional pilot fermentation and bioprocess scale-up
IBioIC / FlexBio scale-up centre, Heriot-Watt University — Edinburgh
How you get in: IBioIC membership or contracted project
Conditions: Membership or project agreement required
Source: Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre · verified 2026-08-19
Biologics and biopharmaceutical process scale-up
Pilot-to-commercial scale bioprocessing outside a company own plant
CPI National Biologics Manufacturing Centre — Darlington
How you get in: Contracted development or manufacturing project with CPI
Conditions: Booked project by project; not open-access facility time
Source: CPI · verified 2026-08-19
Access with conditions
Real capability, on terms worth knowing before you plan around it.
Regulatory approval (novel foods / regulated products)
Route to market authorisation for engineered biology products
Food Standards Agency regulated products service — UK-wide
How you get in: Regulated products application
Conditions: Multi-year dossier timelines; reform of the service is in progress
Source: Food Standards Agency · verified 2026-08-19
Other access questions
- Laboratory space in Cambridge
Can a small team get fitted lab space in Cambridge, and on what terms?
- Pilot and scale-up production in Teesside and the North East
Where can a process be taken from lab bench to pilot scale in Britain?
- Cleanroom and nanofabrication access in Glasgow
Where can a photonics or quantum device be prototyped in Britain?
- National capability routes across Britain
What can you reach anywhere in Britain, even when it is not local?