Contents

The Genomics Revolution in the Golden Triangle 4

The Golden Triangle: A Dynamic Network of 6

Experts, Resources and Partnerships

Beyond the Human Genome – Making

Precision Medicine a Reality 9

Collaborative, Data-Driven Programmes 10

A Magnet for Start-Ups and Industry 12

Thriving Technology Transfer Feeds 14

Multiplying Accelerators

Nationally-Integrated Data Infrastructure 18

A Unique, Accessible, High Quality 18

Clinical Trials Network

Significant Business Opportunities 20

Case Studies 22
 Welcome
Genomics, including whole genome sequencing, is
adding significant insights to support the rapidly
unfolding revolution in precision medicine. The
opportunity to flag individuals’ risk and the development
of targeted therapies for those suffering from rare
inherited disorders and a range of cancers, is now reality.
From the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA
through to Genomics England’s pioneering 100,000
genomes project, the UK has been and continues to be
at the forefront of this new wave of healthcare.
Genomics based activities emanating our R&D
institutions and companies is rapidly changing the way
healthcare is delivered and improving patient well-being.
The UK strength in genomics has received recognition
and strong backing from government. The recently
announced Industrial Strategy provides prominence for
the sector which is seeking to capitalise on established
Prof Richard Trembath
Joint Lead, East London Genes & Health
Head of Molecular and Medical Genetics Group, Division of Genetics & Molecular Medicine, King’s College London
Executive Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London
UK cohort studies and the NHS which curates the
largest repository of whole genome sequences aligned
with clinical and lifelong data in the world.
The so called ‘Golden Triangle’ of Cambridge, London
and Oxford remains prominent in fuelling the genomics
revolution; home to some of the most innovative research
centres and companies in the world, working together to
design precision clinical trials, identify disease and
population based cohort and developing new diagnostics
and therapies.
It’s a pleasure to invite our colleagues from across the
globe to collaborate with the wealth of industry and
academia within the region. Together co-created
programmes will drive forward health innovations
translating them on to dramatic and meaningful patient
outcomes.
The Genomics Revolution in the
Golden Triangle
How Cambridge, London and Oxford are leading the way
Science and technology are transforming healthcare faster, and more
radically, than ever before. Genomics – reading and understanding the
genetic instructions that make up each one of us – is at the heart of this
revolution. It is enabling a new era of personalised medicines that offer
better outcomes, fewer side-effects, and lower costs. It has the potential
to more effectively identify and prevent disease.
Genomics will not transform healthcare in isolation, though. It needs the
right ecosystem – combining the skills, stakeholders, culture, funding and
infrastructure necessary to create and deliver more personalised medi-
cines. The Golden Triangle of Cambridge, London, Oxford and the greater
south east region of England has all those ingredients.
The region combines a renowned scientific base with world-class
clinicians and hospitals, a highly entrepreneurial mind-set, deep transla-
tional expertise and infrastructure, and a single, national health service
(NHS) offering access to large volumes of patients and high quality
patient data. This thriving biopharmaceutical business and research
community co-exists alongside a rapidly-expanding, well-funded digital
and data science focused sector. Genomics involves huge volumes of
data, and demands massive computational capacity. Accessing both the
tools and the talent to collect, interpret, manage and protect data is thus
fundamental to furthering personalised medicine.
Government support continues to help accelerate the UK Golden
Triangle’s rise to become a leading genomics and personalised medicine
hub. Genomics England, set up in 2013, is sequencing the genomes of
4
100,000 patients with common cancers or rare diseases, helping uncover
the causes of these conditions, as well as diagnostics and treatments for
them. The UK government’s Industrial Strategy firmly prioritises both the
bioscience and high-tech/digital sectors, offering continued incentives
and a range of funding sources.
Scientists, clinicians, businesses and investors in the Golden Triangle
have already achieved world-recognised success as innovators. In 2015,
a report published by the UK government and Deloitte, valued the UK
genomics industry at £0.8 billion, a contribution of 10% to the global
market. It also showed that 40% of UK genomics companies were
concentrated in the Golden Triangle of Cambridge, London and Oxford.
Over the last five years, there has been over £370 million of investment
into genomics companies based in the greater south east of England.
This represents 87% of the total genomic investment into the UK. The
majority of this investment came from venture capital (VC); significant
deals in the region include £100 million investment to Oxford Nanopore
Technologies in December 2016 and over £40 million to London-based
DNA Electronics. These investments show evidence of a thriving VC
community and innovative genomics research taking place in the region.
We invite you to join us to further progress truly personalised care,
helping develop and disseminate new, more efficient and valuable
genomics-based technologies in one of the best-equipped, most dynamic
places to do so.
 Cambridge

London

Oxford

5
The Golden Triangle:
a dynamic network of experts,
resources and partnerships
The Golden Triangle of Cambridge, London and
Oxford offers an unparalleled mix of expertise,
resources, institutions, funding, education and
collaboration, packed within a relatively small,
highly-accessible region. This maximises the
exchange of ideas, skills and resources across
multiple disciplines, providing a near-perfect
ecosystem for genomics research and for
translating that work to the clinic.
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, near
Cambridge, is one of the largest sequencing
facilities in Europe. It sits next door to the
European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI),
Europe’s life sciences data repository. Less than
five miles away is Europe’s largest biomedical
campus, the Cambridge Biomedical Campus,
with access to vast amounts of clinical data and
the country’s largest pharmaceuticals hub.
In Oxford, pioneering molecular diagnostics work
at the Molecular Diagnostics Centre (MDC) is
embedded within one of the world’s leading
universities, a network of hospitals and specialist
research institutes. Close by is the Harwell
campus, which provides access to a range of
world-class sciences infrastructure, including the
Diamond Syncatron.
The Triangle’s third pillar, London, needs little
introduction: this world-leading city and financial
centre has globally-recognised clinics and
universities, innovation hubs across most
industrial sectors, including biotechnology,
technology and data science, a huge investor
network and an extraordinary talent pool.
6
Genomics England was set up to sequence
100,000 whole genomes from NHS
patients with rare diseases and cancers –
with the aim to deliver better diagnoses,
treatments and outcomes. The nationwide
project involves over 85 NHS Trusts, and
together with NHS England, has created a
network of 13 dedicated NHS Genomic
Medicine Centres across the country. Six
NHS GMCs sit in the Golden Triangle: East
of England; North Thames; Oxford; South
London; Wessex; and West London.
The sequencing part of the 100,000
Genomes Project will be completed by the
end of 2018, according to Chief
Commercial Officer Joanne Hackett.
However, the real value starts when they
connect this genomics data with clinical
records from the large, highly diverse NHS
population, which typically remains within a
single health system for a lifetime.
Over 2,500 researchers, NHS clinicians and
trainees have been assembled to tap into
and analyse this treasure trove of data via
disease-specific Genomics England Clinical
Interpretation Partnerships (GeCIPs), open
to eligible researchers from all over the
world.
Genomics England is also connecting with Genomics England has helped build the
local and international industry partners, via infrastructure that will underpin personalised
its Discovery Forum – with the aim of medicine, by integrating research with
accelerating the translation of new front-end clinical institutions and clinicians.
discoveries into patient benefit. Genomic Hackett predicts that the NHS will routinely
data can help select the patients most likely offer whole genome sequencing for some
to benefit from a particular treatment, patients from next year.
allowing for more precise clinical trials.
Drugs can then be developed faster and
more cheaply, ultimately allowing patients
In driving the 100,000
greater access to more effective drugs.
Genomes Project we are
helping to create an invaluable
US-based Discovery Forum partner BERG
Health, for instance, worked with Genomics
national asset. In combining
England to recruit a pancreatic cancer trial, genomic and clinical data
in line with strict data management and we are delivering a unique
protection rules. BERG’s own strength is in proposition – only possible
applying artificial intelligence (AI) to drug using a comprehensive, diverse
R&D. healthcare system such as the
NHS. To date, nobody else in
By bringing together companies with the world has been able to
different skillsets within the Discovery match it.
Forum, Genomics England also encourages
the collaboration that is key to the Golden
Triangle’s success. “We work to bring Joanne Hackett, Chief Commercial
Officer, Genomics England
businesses together where we can see
synergies that will speed patient benefit. If
Company A comes to us with a challenge
and we know that company B has a solution
– we will connect them to get the work
delivered - catalysing business, growth and
scientific progress.” says Hackett.
7
The Cambridge Biomedical
Campus is the biggest in
Europe. We have large
amounts of medical
infrastructure, but also
physics, chemistry, computer
science, the Turing Institute…
and other world-class, non-
medical and pre-medical
opportunities.

Prof. Lucy Raymond, Honorary

Consultant, Dept of Medical Genetics,
Cambridge Institute for Medical
Research, University of Cambridge

8
 Beyond the Human
Genome:
Making Precision
Medicine a Reality
The Golden Triangle’s unprecedented mix of specialist
centres, research-based hospitals and innovative,
collaborative projects in genomic medicine are turning
promise into reality.

The Sanger Institute, based at the Wellcome Genome

Campus in Hinxton, near Cambridge, was founded 25
years ago to advance the Human Genome Project.
Today, it supports the 100,000 Genomes Project with
an entire floor of high-tech sequencing equipment and
experts from industrial partner Illumina Inc. Next door,
the EBI is dedicated to capturing, understanding and
using ‘big data’ – the extraordinarily high volumes of
data at the heart of genomics and many other research
areas, in medicine and beyond.

Together, the neighbours are innovating how large-scale

genomics data is aggregated and analysed, with joint
appointments and international collaborations. “We have
the largest concentration of genomics scientists in the
world,” says Julia Wilson, Associate Director at the
Sanger Institute. And that’s set to remain the case, as
Sanger trains the next generation of scientists and
clinicians, while EBI offers apprenticeships in
bioinformatics and an extensive user training
programme, supporting researchers in academia and
9 industry.
Collaborative, Data-driven Programmes

The Human Genome Project was pioneering, but was only the very first
step in understanding how genes drive health and disease. The Sanger’s
Human Cell Atlas project goes further, seeking to sequence the
genomes of individual cells to understand their behaviour, both in normal
and pathological conditions. “We like to take on big challenges,” says Julia
Wilson. The programme involves partners in 23 countries, including the
US’ Broad Institute and Sweden’s Karolinska Institute.

The Sanger is also the central hub of the Open Targets program, a
pre-competitive collaboration to find and validate new drug targets using
genomic data. The programme includes the EBI and pharmaceutical firms
GlaxoSmithKline, Biogen and Takeda. All the data generated will be served
up freely for any scientist in the world to access. Open Targets is a
promising, if rare, example of data-sharing across industry and academia.

Precision medicine, along with technology and big data, are two of the four
key pillars of the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, a partnership
between the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust (OUHFT). The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human
Genetics, an international leader in genetics, genomics, and structural
biology, is based at the University’s biomedical research campus.
Oxford’s Genomics Medicine Centre, develops and evaluates genetic tests
to differentiate and diagnose cancers and rare diseases – with an
unrelenting focus on how these can be translated into NHS-delivered
services for patients. “Everyone is trying to define the simplest route to get
the most accurate, and evidence-based information for the benefit of the
patient” says Nick Housby, Programme lead at Oxford’s Genomics
Medicine Centre. The BRC-funded Oxford Molecular Diagnostics Centre
(MDC), developed the first 50-gene cancer panel, allowing a single test to
pick up mutations across many genes. Multi-gene panel testing is likely to

10
become the most practicable, cost-efficient way
to perform population-wide genetic testing. The
MDC’s teams of bio-informaticians, clinicians,
statisticians and health economists receive
referrals from the NHS, pharmaceutical
companies, clinical trials and research groups
globally.
All of Oxford’s hospitals, and numerous
dedicated research institutes – across cancer,
brain imaging, rheumatology, diabetes,
immunology and more – bring together
clinicians and researchers, partners and industry,
to make breakthrough innovations for patients.
“It’s a unique collaboration,” enthuses Bruno
Holthof, CEO of the Oxford University Hospital
NHS Foundation Trust.
London houses three Genomics Medicine
Centres – at the Great Ormond Street Hospital
NHS Foundation Trust, Guy’s and St Thomas’
NHS Trust, and Imperial College Healthcare
NHS Trust. Precision medicine is also a key
theme across several other leading London
universities and hospitals.
University College London (UCL) has recently
launched the Institute for Precision Medicine
to harness the extensive research ongoing at
UCL and partner hospitals across London. The
Institute will provide a portal for those within and
outside, seeking access to the cross-disciplinary
resources and expertise relevant to making
precision medicine a reality. The Royal Hospital
of St Bartholomew (known as “Barts”) in the City
of London, and King’s College Hospital in
southeast London are involved.
King’s College London together with South
London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation
Trust, host several of the largest mental health
patient cohorts that are enriched in real-time
e-health data.
Barts, King’s College London and UCL are also
partners behind a pioneering health programme
bringing the benefits of precision medicine to a
community that many large research studies
have ignored. East London Genes & Health
(ELGH) is collecting genetic data from 100,000
Pakistani and Bangladeshi adults in East
London – a large ethnic minority with some of
the highest rates of heart disease and diabetes
in the UK. By combining genetic data with
consenting volunteers’ life-long medical health
records, ELGH is building a valuable data
repository to help understand disease
prevalence in this community – and, ultimately,
to improve public health.
11
The project has already attracted 27,000 local
volunteers, as well as academic and clinical
partners within Queen Mary University of
London, Barts Health NHS Trust, primary care
groups – and international scientists, including
from the US’ Broad Institute. The data-set is
already enriching our wider understanding of
disease, as it includes many individuals whose
parents are related. This means rare variants in
the genome, typically seen in only one copy of
gene pairs, are more likely to be seen in both,
leading to instances of ‘human knock-outs’:
individuals with two copies of a particular gene
that are inactivated. Knowing that this gene is
effectively redundant can help inform drug
development. This explains why players such as
US-based Alnylam, and others, “are strongly
interested in working with us,” says David van
Heel, Chief Investigator and joint director along
with Richard Trembath, at ELGH.
A magnet for start-ups and industry

The Golden Triangle provides an excellent environment for spin-outs,

start-ups and more mature companies working in genomic science and
medicine.

The Wellcome Genome Campus innovation centre (“Biodata Innovation

Centre”) opened in the summer of 2016 to companies working in bio-data
or genomics. It is already full, with a long waiting list; the campus is
expected to double in size over the next 20 years. Residents include
Sanger Institute spin-out Congenica, focused on genome analytics for
diagnosis and discovery in rare diseases, and bioinformatics group Eagle
Genomics, experts in data management and analysis.

Newcomers are attracted to the resources, know-how and talent gathered

on the site. “Each year, we have 100 PhDs and post-docs looking for jobs
when they graduate,” says Julia Wilson, Associate Director at the Sanger
Institute. Collaboration among academic and industry scientists is strongly
encouraged. “We want them to learn from each other”, says Wilson,
“whether through talks, seminars or just bumping into each other in the
cafeteria.” Meanwhile, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is building its
headquarters on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, pulling in other firms,
such as Abcam, and making it the UK’s biggest pharmaceutical hub.

Oxford also has a thriving biotech community at the Milton Park science
park in Abingdon, as well as at the Oxford Science Park south of the city.
Two Oxford University spin-outs Genomics plc and Oxford Nanopore are
each, in their own ways, revolutionising gene sequence analysis. Genomics
plc has developed an analytic platform managing and investigating gene
sequencing information, while Oxford Nanopore, has built machines that
allow sequencing to be performed rapidly and accurately outside
traditional labs.
Large industry partners continue to invest in the Golden Triangle. Merck
(MSD) recently announced it would invest around £1 billion to create a
research facility in London by 2020. GlaxoSmithKline has increased its
commitment to UK genomic sequencing projects, investing £40 million to
support sequencing of genetic data collected by the UK BioBank, which is
assembling biological samples and health information from 500,000
volunteers.

12
 We are the largest
concentration of
genomics scientists in
the world, with 25
years’ of experience.
Julia Wilson, Associate Director,
Sanger Institute

13
 Thriving technology
transfer feeds
multiplying
accelerators
Technology transfer activities within the Golden Triangle’s
world-leading universities are sophisticated, well-funded
and thriving. They are generating dozens of spin-outs
across the region, further supported by a wide range of
business accelerators and incubators in the south east
of England. These offer support, facilities and access to
funding for start-ups across biotechnology, medical
technology, information technology, data-science and AI,
all crucial to the future of healthcare.

New start-up support programmes are appearing all the

time. The first accelerator dedicated specifically to young
companies working in precision medicine is about to
open within the IDEALondon tech accelerator in
Shoreditch, East London. It is supported by University
College London and industrial partners, including Cisco.
“We have huge expertise in healthcare across London,
from research through to care delivery and regulatory
affairs,” says Philip Beales, Head of Genetics and
Genomic Medicine at the UCL Great Ormond Street
Institute of Child Health. The accelerator will help young
technology and data-focused companies, with limited
healthcare experience, to tap into that expertise.

14
There are a large number of accelerator sites and incubators across the region,
including:

• Imperial College Incubators in South Kensington and White City

• Stevenage BioScience Catalyst
• Babraham Bioincubator in Cambridge
• University of Oxford Start Up Incubator
• NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA), hosted at UCL Partners in London.
NIA supports individuals to accelerate uptake of high-impact innovations for
patients and NHS staff. The NIA is an NHS England Initiative delivered in partnership
with all 15 Academic Health Science Networks across England.

Touchstone Innovations builds and invests in innovative technology and biotechnology

companies based around research from the Golden Triangle’s leading institutions. Its
technology transfer arm, Imperial Innovations, helps recruit management teams and
co-investors. Touchstone is now part of global company-builder, IP Group, opening up
further connections worldwide.

Touchstone’s portfolio includes four-year old Inivata, a spin-out from the University of
Cambridge, which is developing a technique to detect cancer-related genetic
mutations via circulating DNA, which can be collected from a simple blood sample.
We have huge expertise in
This ‘liquid biopsy’ technique could make diagnosis easier, quicker and less invasive,
enabling more rapid identification of, or development of, appropriate therapies and healthcare across London,
therapy combinations. from research through to care
delivery and regulatory affairs.
Other accelerators, such as Techstars, house the newest generation of companies
building the data infrastructure needed to support genomics research and its
Philip Beales,
translation into personalised medicine. Cambridge-based LifeBit, for example, has Head of Genetics and Genomic
built an open-source, cloud-based workflow management system, Nextflow, to help Medicine at the UCL Great Ormond
scientists handle and analyse DNA data more easily and efficiently. Street Institute of Child Health

15
 Snapshot of the
Genomics Ecosystem 11

10
12
CAMBRIDGE
14
13 15 16
Ipswich

Milton Keynes
M1 M11 Colchester

2 4

OXFORD Luton Chelmsford

3 5

6
M25

M40
C

Reading
M4
9
8 LONDON
Wormwood
Canterbury Scrubs
Guildford
M25 M20 18
M3
Paddington
Dover 17
Nong Hill

Hammersmith Kensington
Gardens
1
Holland
Park
Has ngs
Brighton
Kensington
Portsmouth
Chelsea

Fulham

16
 Companies
Sequencing/NGS Big Data/Informatics/Analysis
Clinical Services
Base4 10 Congenica 15
Cambridge Cancer Genomics 11
Cambridge Epigenetix 16 Desktop Genetics 6
Inivata 14
Century genomics 9 Diagnostics.AI 7
DNA Electronics 17 Eagle Genomics 15 Drug Development
GATC Biotech 22 Genomics plc 3 Celleron Therapeutics 6
Illumina 14 GOSGene 25 Vertex Pharmaceutical 18
LGC 8 PetaGene 10
Nalia Systems 21 Repositive
Marsh
11 Genomic Data Access
Oxford Nanopore 6 RowAnalytics 2 DNAdigest 11
Quest Diagnostics 20 Seven Bridges 24

Islington

Academic/NHS
We

Hackney Genomics England 27

King’s Cross Straord
Victoria
Park Sanger Institute 13
Camden 21 22
Hoxton European Bioinformatics Institute 13
Regent’s
Park
Oxford Molecular Diagnostics Centre 4
24 27 Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics 5
23 25 26 UCL Institute for Precision Medicine 23
29

20 East London Genes & Health, Blizard Institute 30

City 30 *South London NHS GMC 28

19
*West London NHS GMC 19
MedCity
*North Thames NHS GMC 26
*Oxford NHS GMC 4
Hyde Park
*East of England GMC 12
28
Canary Wharf *Wessex NHS GMC 1
Green
Park
London & Partners
Waterloo (*Each GMC is mapped at the lead organisation)
Westminster
Southwark
Park For a complete list of companies in the region,
please visit medcitymap.com

Burgess
Park

Baersea Southwark 17
Park Greenwich
Park
Nationally-Integrated
Data Infrastructure
A rich, robust and reliable data infrastructure is a pre-requisite for
personalised medicine. The UK’s NHS offers a more valuable data
resource than almost anywhere else in the world. “We pretty much own
genomics in a clinical setting. No one else is close,” summed up John Bell,
Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford and chairman of
the UK’s Offices for the Strategic Coordination of Health Research, in a
recent interview with BioCentury.
The UK BioBank, Genomics England’s 100,000 Genomes Project and
East London Genes & Health are just a few of the many programmes
contributing to the Golden Triangle’s ever-richer data and knowledge base.
Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) is an emerging UK-wide institute for
health and biomedical informatics research, led by the Government’s
Medical Research Council. HDR UK will be highly interdisciplinary, seeking
to maximise the potential of the UK’s data resources and research skills.
Cambridge heads the NIHR Bio-Resource for Translational Medicine – a
national data initiative designed to become a repository of sequencing
data from healthy and diseased volunteers for industry and researchers to
tap into.
Cambridge, Oxford and UCL are among the five founding universities of
the national Alan Turing Institute; a national institute for data science.
Headquartered at the British Library in London, it aims to transform data
science research, working across disciplines to develop new theories and
valuable real world applications.
As data becomes more accessible, and as the region’s innovative start-ups
transform our ability to analyse and interpret it, the UK government is
committing to investments in cybersecurity and securing the NHS
computer systems against attack.
18
A Unique, Accessible,
High Quality Clinical Trials
Network
The UK’s NHS offers access to a large, diverse patient population and a
high-quality clinical trials infrastructure. A national set of 15 Local Clinical
Research Networks provide easy, rapid access to patients, clinicians,
experienced trial investigators and facilities across 30 clinical specialties.
The NHS’ National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) also funds or
co-funds a range of additional, more specialised research infrastructure,
including purpose-built patient-centered research facilities, supporting
high-intensity treatment and overnight stays, and Experimental Cancer
Medicine Centres (ECMCs). The ECMCs focus on finding cancer
biomarkers to diagnose disease, and to identify appropriate, personalised
treatments and regimens. As such, they are core to the NHS’ wider goal of
making genomics-based personalised medicine a widespread reality.
The NHS has underlined its commitment to responsible, safe and effective
use of anonymised patient data to expedite drug discovery and care
delivery. NHS England CEO Simon Stevens recently announced the
creation of Digital Innovation Hubs across the country. These will build
high-quality, privacy-protected, usable data-sets for researchers, covering
3-5 million people each. “The information we collect within the NHS, if
properly deployed, can take time out of the discovery process,” he said at
the 2017 FT Global Pharma and biotech conference in London.
The UK’s genomics market
value is nearing £1 billion,
with 40% of companies
based around Cambridge,
London, and Oxford.
Eliot Forster, Chair of MedCity
and CEO of Immunocore
Significant Business Opportunities
Mulltiple funding sources
The Golden Triangle’s world-leading
concentration of academic and clinical
research, innovation hubs and trials
infrastructure is matched by a highly
favourable economic environment. London’s
financial centre is home to multiple private and
public investors, supporting life sciences
companies from inception through to
commercial listings and beyond. Innovation in
investment models, methods and structures is
thriving in parallel with science and technology.
Crowdfunding, start-up pitch meetings,
speed-funding and educational seminars for
entrepreneurs are available to help companies
get off the ground. New forms of specialist
venture capital have emerged, including
several with permanent capital available to
support companies long-term. The London
Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment
Market is designed for smaller, growth
companies seeking public investors, with more
flexible regulatory and reporting demands than
the main market.
Business friendly tax rates and credits
The UK offers a highly competitive place to
invent and invest. Corporation tax rates,
already low relative to many other Western
economies, are reduced further by the Patent
Box scheme, for profits resulting from
patented inventions. R&D tax credits offer
relief for small and mid-sized enterprises that
engage in R&D. The region’s time-zone offers
global businesses and partnerships convenient
office hours, overlapping with those of most of
the world’s most important economies.
World-leading regulatory and
reimbursement agencies
London is also home to two of the most
influential regulatory and reimbursement
agencies in healthcare: the UK Medicines and
Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
(MHRA) and health technology assessment
agency the National Institute of Health and
Care Excellence (NICE).
Helping you access the Golden Triangle’s
resources
Partnership and collaboration – both national
and global – are key to the Golden Triangle’s
success. London & Partners and MedCity help
international life sciences partners to access
and navigate the resources, infrastructure and
talent in London and the south east, while the
Mayor of London’s International Business
Programme is one of several schemes
available to help incumbent players to expand
outside of the UK.
20
Case studies
Innovation in the Golden Triangle
GOSgene
GOSgene was set up in 2010 at the UCL
Great Ormond Street Institute of Child
Health in London to advance our under-
standing of rare diseases. Its evolution from
a research-based programme to a highly
patient-centric, clinical endeavour highlights
the Golden Triangle’s strong focus on
translating genomics-related science into
patient benefit.
With funding from the National Institute for
Health Research (NIHR) and University
College London (UCL), GOSgene uses
next-generation gene-sequencing tech-
niques to identify important genes in children
suffering from rare, undiagnosed conditions.
The project has already identified over 100
important genes, 40% of which are entirely
novel. Many of those have been found to
play a causative role in disease.
GOSgene’s Rapid Paediatric Sequencing
(RaPS) project is using this genetic knowl-
edge to improve clinical management of
young patients in intensive care. Some of
these children have conditions that are
known to be genetically-based, but whose
physical symptoms are poorly understood.
For these patients, rapid diagnosis in order to
direct the most effective treatment or care
strategy is critical. “Standard diagnoses can
take more than four months,” says Hywel
Williams, Senior Research Associate at
GOSgene. “We aim to get results back in
one to two weeks.” Powerful sequencing and
data-analysis tools are an important ingredi-
ent in RaPS, but so is a highly-coordinated,
multi-disciplinary team of Intensive Care Unit
(ICU) clinicians, geneticists, diagnostics
experts and data scientists – all with a
shared goal of improved outcomes. Those
networks are built at world-leading clinical
and research environments such as those at
The whole idea [behind
GOSH and UCL in London, and in many
other parts of the golden triangle. RaPS] is to move away from
the research environment…
and improve clinical
management of young
patients in the intensive care
unit.
Hywel Williams, Senior Research
Associate, GOSgene
23
Congenica
Congenica was created around genome analysis
software developed at the Sanger Institute in
Cambridge. The start-up’s technology, known as
Sapientia, rapidly processes and filters raw
genomic data, along with extensive clinical
information, to generate meaningful results that
clinicians can use to diagnose and treat patients
with inherited diseases.

Sapientia is an interpretation partner for the

pilot phase of Genomics England’s 100,000
genomes project, and has been validated via
other international partnerships too, including
with China’s Beijing Genome Institute (BGI).
BGI is one of the world’s largest DNA sequencing
service providers, and became an investor in
Congenica in the company’s latest funding round.

Congenica’s success to date comes in large
part from the depth and breadth of expertise
among its founders and workforce, and its
collaborative approach. “As the first start-up on
the Wellcome Biomedical Campus, we were in
the perfect position to recruit the best from
Sanger and the European Bioinformatics
Institute,” says Philip Beales, Chief Medical
Officer at Congenica. “A multidisciplinary team,
including NHS-registered scientists,
differentiates Congenica from many of its
genome-analysis peers, typically dominated by
software engineers. These scientists have
decades of experience, trained to interpret and We wanted to develop
apply the output data from Sapientia”, Beales
software that could interpret
continues. That discovery-to-delivery range of
expertise is one of the many advantages the genomic information in a
Golden Triangle provides. meaningful way, and provide
physicians with relevant
Congenica’s growth – from three to around 60 information about their
employees in three years – bears testament to
patients.
the commercial opportunities around the UK’s
rich research and clinical foundations in genomic
medicine, helping accelerate the nation’s goal to
become the first to deliver fully personalised Philip Beales, Medical Director
genomic medicine.

24
Vertex
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a biotech sector
pioneer, develops new medicines for serious
diseases such as Hepatitis C and, more
recently, Cystic Fibrosis. Headquartered in
Boston, Massachusetts, the company has
had an R&D base in Oxford’s Milton Park
campus for 19 years. “We came because of
the talent, the science, and the entire
We came [to the Golden Triangle] because Golden Triangle ecosystem,” says VP,
of the talent, the science, and the entire Corporate Affairs International, Rebecca
ecosystem. Hunt. In 2015, Vertex moved its entire
International Headquarters to Paddington,
London from Switzerland. “People want to
Rebecca Hunt, VP,
work in London. There’s a thriving
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
healthcare and health tech community,” says
Hunt. Paddington’s rapid transport links to
25
Heathrow airport and to Oxford make it a
very convenient, accessible location. The
government’s Patent Box scheme was
another compelling influence on Vertex’s
choice, as was the NHS, with its
unparalleled clinical trial infrastructure and
expertise, and the world-class Cystic
Fibrosis registry run by UK patient group,
the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. The company has
close relations with the University of Oxford,
and is developing research partnerships
with other UK institutions and companies.
Vertex has a 250-strong, highly international
workforce and says it has invested over
£1.2 billion in the UK since 2006.
Oxford Nanopore
Oxford Nanopore’s story shows how world-
leading biochemical research, combined with
engineering, informatics, and a highly-
experienced management team, can create a
technology that is revolutionising how – and
where – DNA is sequenced and analysed. The
company’s disruptive goal is to enable the
analysis of any living thing, by any person, in any
environment.
The University of Oxford spin-out has developed
a range of real-time, low-cost DNA sequencing
devices - from benchtop to portable/pocket-
sized - opening up biological analyses to
scientists across multiple sectors, in multiple
locations. The technology involves passing
currents through biological nanopores – small
holes made by pore-forming proteins – and
measuring changes as the biological molecules
DNA or RNA pass through the nanopore.
Oxford Nanopore’s tiny MinION DNA sequencer,
which weighs less than 100g and plugs into a
laptop, has been commercially available since
2015, and is used not only in scientific labs all
over the world (and beyond, including in the
International Space Station) but also in non-lab
environments. Some are exploring its use in
farming or food safety. Nanopore technology can In 2017, Oxford Nanopore launched a new larger
also make research more efficient, by streaming instrument – GridION – and started to release its
data in real-time as a sample is analysed, which high-end PromethION sequencer. It also
can result in rapid results. This allows released the only direct RNA sequencing
experiments to be closely monitored, and method. As use of the MinION personal
stopped when sufficient data is collected, rather sequencer grew across 70 countries, new forms
than running a machine for a fixed period of days of access to nanopore technology were
as traditional sequencers do. Oxford Nanopore’s introduced: service providers in Australia and the
machines can also be programmed to reject Netherlands were recently certified to offer
certain DNA strands if they do not contain a nanopore sequencing as a service. The company
pre-specified base sequence, meaning that the also recently made its first sales in China.
sequencing is dynamic and efficient.
The company, headquartered at the Oxford
Science Park and with offices in Cambridge UK,
Cambridge MA, New York and (soon) in
Shanghai and San Francisco, has raised over
£351 million since inception, from UK, European,
US and Asian investors. Its success stems from
Oxford’s unique combination of research and
commercial excellence, and from its international
outlook. The company’s current IP portfolio
covers discoveries from the company and Oxford
University, but also other institutions including,
Harvard University; the University of
California, Santa Cruz; and Boston University.
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 Genomics plc
Oxford-based Genomics plc’s mission is statistical geneticists and software
to transform drug development through a engineers – many from Oxford University
better understanding of human biology – creating a compelling place to work, and
and disease. Founded by four world-leading an attractive partner. US drugs giant
scientists at the Wellcome Centre for Biogen recently signed up Genomics plc
Human Genetics – with encouragement to help find new drug targets for multiple
from Genomics England -- four-year-old sclerosis. More partnerships will likely
Genomics plc has built one of the world’s follow given the growing strength of the
largest and best curated databases of local ecosystem: Oxford’s Big Data
genomic and phenotypic information. “The Institute, focused on analysing large
database combines studies from over five data-sets to better understand disease,
million participants, capturing the effects recently opened nearby, with Genomics plc
of genetic variants on thousands of co-founder Professor Gil McVean as
human phenotypes,” says COO John director.
Colenutt. Genomics plc uses powerful,
machine-learning based algorithms to
mine the data and discover novel biological
insights. Located in central Oxford,
Genomics plc taps into a rich pool of
Oxford’s world-leading
university, medical schools,
and thriving life sciences
companies mean there’s a lot
of talent here. And it’s a great
place to work.

John Colenutt, COO & Director,

Genomics plc

27
The Institute of Cancer Research
For over 100 years, The Institute of Cancer
Research, London has played an important
role in shaping the understanding of cancer
and how it can be treated. Based across two
sites in Chelsea and Sutton, together with its
partner The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation
Trust, it is rated in the top four centres for
cancer research and treatment worldwide.
Their work to identify cancer genes, discover
cancer drugs and develop precision radio-
therapy has helped drive better outcomes for
patients. Researchers at The Institute of
Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal
Marsden have developed a number of
genomic tests, identifying specific mutations
that help select the optimal treatment
options for patients, as well as identifying
when a cancer has become resistant to
treatment.
Research by scientists at the ICR led to the
development of Olaparib, a PARP inhibitor,
that was the first breast and ovarian cancer
drug directed against an inherited genetic
mutation, to be approved by the US Food
and Drug Administration (FDA).
To ensure its research benefits patients, the
ICR together with The Royal Marsden has
also developed novel ways of integrating
genomic testing into the NHS, having
developed a more efficient pipeline for
genetic testing in ovarian cancer patients
and suggested simpler, more effective
criteria for selecting patients for testing who
are likely to have a mutation in either of the
BRCA genes.
Being based in London allows the ICR to
work in collaboration with world-renowned
hospitals and researchers. Plans to develop
The London Cancer Hub, a brand new
bio-campus on the Sutton site will also
create a vibrant community of scientists,
doctors and innovative companies all in one
We have a long history
space - delivering real benefits for cancer
patients by driving collaboration between of research into cancer
academia and industry. genomics as we discovered
DNA damage as the
fundamental cause of cancer.
Drug discovery and genomics
go hand in hand, and has led
to us discovering 20 drug
candidates since 2005.
Nik Matthews, Genomics Manager in
the ICR’s Tumour Profiling Unit with the
NovaSeq sequencer
28
 The UK is an attractive place for
pharma and in vitro diagnostics
industries to invest, with hubs
bringing together scientific
excellence for innovative genomic
and biodata businesses.
Steve Bates, CEO,
BIA

29
Support networks in the golden triangle
Join us to shape the future of healthcare. You can access targeted support and
expert advice from a number of organisations throughout the region, each one of
which has the specific aim to help researchers, academics, entrepreneurs, corporates
and investors locate, grow and thrive in the Golden Triangle ecosystem.

MedCity • London & Partners

Helps businesses to: Facilitates businesses to:
• understand the life sciences ecosystem of • set up and scale up in London
Cambridge, London, Oxford and the • connect with London’s business networks
greater south east of England • access high quality professional services
• navigate the life sciences networks • supports high-growth SMEs to export
• access specialist corporate partners their products and grow their business
• locate facilities and workspaces through the Mayor’s International
• understand the regulator and procurement Business Programme
processes • supports London MEs to grow their
business in London with the Business
Growth Programme

medcityhq.com business.london/invest

Images on pages 8 and 14 were supplied by Genomics England.

30
Contact us
MedCity can help you navigate and access
different parts of the academic, NHS and
industrial life sciences and healthcare
environment across the Golden Triangle of
Cambridge, London, Oxford and the greater
south east region of England.

office@medcityhq.com
020 3179 8100
medcityhq.com

@MedCityHQ

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