Pioneer Group has begun work on 20,000 sq ft of lab space at the company’s Edinburgh Technopole campus.
The UK’s largest developer and operator of lab space has branded the building Moubray, which will expand the group's footprint in Scotland to more than 238,000 sq ft once complete.
Planning permission also exists for Pioneer to deliver a further 20,000 sq ft of space on site.
Ogilvie Construction has commenced groundworks, with completion expected next August.
Up to 150 jobs should be created by the building’s new occupiers, with the construction also supporting 45 new local jobs.
The new development aims to cater to all segments of the market - from start-ups to blue-chips - by incorporating flexible layouts and fully-fitted, Grade A space.
The site is situated just a few minutes walk from the University of Edinburgh’s Easter Bush Campus, while the Edinburgh Technopole science park is already home to the likes of AMD, BioBest, Roslin CT, Cambrex and Almac.
Edinburgh Technopole is a 126-acre life sciences campus, comprising 10 buildings that provide 108,000 square feet of lab and office space. The site forms part of the Midlothian Science Zone, a centre of animal health and life sciences research.
John Mackenzie, Scotland director at Pioneer Group, said: “Providing suitable accommodation for scale-ups is crucial - modern biotechs have high standards for lab space and amenity, but crucially they demand proximity to leading institutions for collaboration and to support hiring the best and brightest talent.
“To truly capture the full potential of Scotland’s life sciences sector though, it is up to developers and operators, such as ourselves, to deliver the physical real estate that will help the unicorns of tomorrow scale today, and which is why we’re continuing to expand our footprint across the country.”
A recent report from Pioneer Group and JLL revealed that Scottish life science start-ups raised a record £253m over the last five years. Investment activity was driven by fundraises from the other Scottish Pioneer site, BioCity Glasgow tenants, Amphista Therapeutics and Enterobiotix.
Despite this, the growth of Scotland’s world-leading life sciences sector is being held back by a lack of lab development, with start-ups and scale-ups often being locked out of the market, according to Pioneer.
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