The Newcastle Biotech Roundtable 2025 was hosted at the newly renovated TusPark Newcastle.

The Newcastle Biotech Roundtable 2025 was hosted at the newly renovated TusPark Newcastle.

8/1/2025 12:00:00 AM

The Newcastle Biotech Roundtable 2025 was hosted at the newly renovated TusPark Newcastle. The incubator has expanded three-fold and is the heart of the Newcastle tech ecosystem, with residents in-house that include a leading robotics and new materials company in North East UK (Wootzano), the Newcastle branch of Scotland’s largest chartered accountants (Johnson Carmichael), an award-winning digital marketing agency (Bonded), one of the longest-standing European Patent Attorneys founded over 100 years ago (Mathys & Squire), the UK’s largest incubator network (Barclays Eagle Labs.

This event was launched with warm greetings from Kevin Lin (President of TusPark Holdings UK) and Dr Wei Meng (Head of Innovation, TusPark UK). It was co-convened by serial entrepreneur of university spinouts, Professor Che Connon.

Moderated by TusPark’s Director of Operations, Colin Tan, the forum brought together founders, investors, trade bodies, growth platforms, and policy-makers, all committed to supporting Newcastle’s rapidly scaling biotech ecosystem. It was the third of such Biotech Roundtables organised by TusPark, with last year’s being held at UK Parliament in London.

The format combined high-level insights, peer‑to‑peer tactics exchange, regional networking, and start‑up spotlights.

Guest Speakers

• Chi Onwurah MP, Chair of the UK Parliament’s Science, Innovation & Technology Committee and MP for Newcastle Central & West, shared her Innovation Showcase initiative, which highlights one British innovator per week in committee hearings to surface scale-up barriers.
• Dace Dimza‑Jones, Deputy Head for Northern Powerhouse Life Sciences at the Department for Business and Trade, opened the event with an overview of UK foreign direct investment trends in life sciences.
• Rob Hamilton, Chief Economist at the newly unified North East Combined Authority, presented the region’s economic innovation strategy under Mayor Kim McGuinness.

Investment & Ecosystem Updates 

• Alex Buchan (Investment Director, Northstar Ventures UK) presented a sector-wide investment report tracing north‑east capital flows and emerging funder trends.
• Alex Wright (Senior Account Manager, Newcastle Gateshead Initiative) highlighted the full‑lab expansion at The Biosphere at Helix and new inward‑investment products.

Start‑up Highlights: Newcastle’s biotech contingent reported recent funding milestones:

• Nanovery secured £1.1 million in April 2025 to scale its nanorobotic diagnostics and RNA‑therapeutics platform.
• Newcells Biotech Ltd raised £1.2 million in December 2024 to accelerate its 3D human tissue models for drug discovery and reduce animal testing.
• Aelius Biotech closed £750k in April 2025 to support U.S. and European market expansion and establish a new lab in the city.

As Colin Tan reflected, “These successes show that Newcastle companies can thrive—if they build networks and learn global capital strategies.” Prof Connon added that the theme of resilience was crucial: adapting to shifting economic climates and maintaining momentum through strong connection and data‑driven strategy.