Eli Lilly’s Gateway Labs is going global, with the U.K. government announcing today that the nation will host the first European branch of the incubator program.
The Gateway Labs are co-working spaces for researchers that also act like accelerators. The idea is that companies or researchers that lease space have the opportunity to collaborate on mutually beneficial research and tap into Lilly’s expertise.
Lilly already operates two Gateway Labs sites in South San Francisco, as well as cutting the ribbon at a new location at the Lilly Institute for Genetic Medicine in Boston's Seaport district in August. A permanent space in San Diego is expected to open next year.
The U.K. will host the first Gateway Labs announced abroad as part of a 279 million pounds sterling ($364 million) investment the U.S. pharma giant is making into the U.K.’s life sciences sector. The agreement with the recently elected U.K. government—announced as part of an International Investment Summit organized by the government today—will be focused on “tackl[ing] significant health challenges,” such as obesity.
While the location of the Gateway Lab has yet to be disclosed, the governments said the facility will help the “U.K.’s brightest and best life sciences talent” to “develop transformative medicines by providing lab space, mentorship, and potential financial backing to rocket future growth in the sector.”
The Big Pharma collaboration “aims to set the stage for government to work with industry to trial innovative approaches to treating obesity as part of a rounded package of care,” according to the press release.
“We welcome this opportunity to partner with the U.K. government on tackling and preventing disease, and accelerating innovation to advance care delivery models,” Lilly CEO chair David Ricks said in a statement. “Today’s announcement is an important milestone, and we are pleased to reinforce Lilly’s commitment to improving health for people living with obesity and its serious consequences.”
“Today’s momentous agreement shows the [U.K.’s National Health Service] is uniquely well-placed globally, not just to bring effective new treatments to those who would benefit most, but also to support science, research, jobs and economic growth across the country,” Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive of NHS England said. “We now have an important chance to gain a better understanding of the benefits of weight management interventions for patients, and how best to deliver them over the next few years.”
Speaking to Fierce Biotech back in April, Gateway Labs’ global head Julie Gilmore, Ph.D., said that Lilly was “really excited to expand this model.”
“I like to think this is high touch—we really engage with our companies,” Gilmore said. “So it’s not going to be one where you've got hundreds of Gateway sites around the globe. But we are excited to continue to scale this and go to geographies where we think we can make a difference.”
Lilly has made direct investments in over half of the companies operating at its Gateway sites and has already in-licensed three programs from Gateway-based companies, Gilmore added at the time.