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Biotech lab playbook.

A London / Cambridge / Oxford biotech lab running wet-lab R&D in therapeutics, diagnostics, synthetic biology, agri-bio or industrial bio. The win is generating reproducible pre-clinical / discovery data that unlocks the next funding round (Innovate UK / ARIA / Wellcome Leap / dilutive VC) or a pharma BD deal.

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Overview

A London / Cambridge / Oxford biotech is fundamentally a programme business — every month is bought by a milestone that unlocks the next tranche. The biggest lever is non-dilutive funding: Innovate UK + ARIA + Wellcome Leap + SBRI + EIC can fund 50–80% of pre-clinical cost. The second lever is R&D tax credits (27% effective relief, SME scheme). The third lever is wet-lab choice — converting raw space is £400–£900 / ft² + 9–14 months; using BioLabs / Stevenage / Babraham / Oxford Sciences Park co-lab cuts this to 30 days at £3,400–£8,400 / FTE / month. This playbook covers operationalising a London biotech from pre-seed wet-lab launch through first IND-enabling data and £1m–£10m raised.

18–32%
Innovate UK biomedical grant conversion (top quartile)
27% effective relief on qualifying R&D
UK R&D tax credit (SME, 2026)
£3,400–£8,400 incl. consumables
Wet-lab cost per FTE / month (CL2 in London)
What you'll need

Equipment list with real 2026 UK prices.

Sized for a 2–4 chair shop. Buy mid-range on chairs and clippers; cheap kit fails inside 12 months and walks away with your barbers.

01

Wet-lab benches + safety (CL2)

Bench + fume hood + CL2 cabinet per FTE
£8,400–£24,000 setup or co-lab inclusive
−80°C + −20°C freezers + cryo storage
£8,400–£42,000 + LN2 contract
Autoclave + glasswash + waste-disposal contract
£3,400–£14,000 + £400–£1,400 / month
02

Instruments + assays

Plate reader + PCR / qPCR + centrifuge bench
£24,000–£140,000 one-off
Flow cytometer / NGS / mass-spec (or CRO access)
£82,000–£480,000 capex or per-sample
Cryo-EM / microscopy (shared facility)
£200–£1,800 / session at Diamond / Crick / Francis Crick Institute
Compute (AWS / GCP for NGS / cryo-EM / structure)
£800–£14,000 / month
03

Compliance + ops

HRA / MHRA / HSE / HTA registration + biosafety officer
£14,000–£60,000 / yr
ISO 15189 (diagnostics) / ISO 13485 (medical device) / GxP (therapeutics)
£24,000–£140,000 / yr
IP + patent attorney + freedom-to-operate searches
£14,000–£82,000 / yr
PI + product-liability + employer's liability + cyber
£3,400–£28,000 / yr
R&D-tax-credit accountant + grant-claim specialist
8–12% success fee + base £8k–£28k / yr
Where to set up

Location is half the business.

Wet-lab co-space + KOL density
Within 30 min of BioLabs King's Cross / Stevenage Bioscience / Babraham / Oxford BioEscalator

Co-lab cuts setup from 9 months to 30 days; KOL + pharma BD proximity halves sales cycle.

Investor + grant cluster
Within 60 min of London / Cambridge / Oxford

Biotech VCs (SV Health / Sofinnova / Forbion / Syncona) + ARIA + Wellcome + Innovate UK all UK-anchored.

Talent + university recruitment
Within 45 min of Imperial / UCL / KCL / Crick / Cambridge / Oxford

Post-doc + technician recruitment is local; relocation kills runway.

Area tier
Rent / month
Notes
BioLabs King's Cross (N1C)
£3,400–£8,400 / FTE incl. bench + shared equipment
Best mix of London talent + KOL access; expensive but fast.
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SG1)
£1,800–£4,800 / FTE
GSK-adjacent; pharma BD warm; cheaper than London.
Babraham / Cambridge / Oxford BioEscalator
£1,400–£4,800 / FTE
Cheaper; world-class academic ecosystem; longer commute for London staff.
Licences & registrations

Get the paperwork done before you sign a lease.

UK figures for 2026. Lead times assume you submit complete applications — councils will pause the clock if you miss documents.

Requirement
Who issues
Cost
Lead time
ReqCompanies House Ltd + EMI + IP assignment + university spin-out terms
Companies House + solicitor + TTO
£3,400–£28,000
4–16 weeks
ReqHSE biosafety notification (CL2 / GMO work) + biosafety officer
HSE
£0 notification + £14k–£42k / yr BSO
4–12 weeks
OptHTA licence (human tissue) / HRA approval (clinical samples)
HTA / HRA
£2,400–£14,000 + £4,800 / yr
12–24 weeks
OptMHRA clinical-trial authorisation (CTIMP) / IND-equivalent
MHRA + ethics committee
£14,000–£82,000 + ongoing
16–36 weeks
OptISO 15189 (diagnostics) / ISO 13485 (medical device) / GxP (GLP / GMP / GCP)
UKAS / BSI / SGS
£24,000–£140,000 / yr
9–18 months
ReqICO + DPO + DPIA (clinical / genomic data)
ICO
£60 + £180–£600 / month
1–3 weeks
ReqPI + product-liability + employer's liability + cyber
Insurer
£3,400–£28,000 / yr
2–6 weeks
OptIP filings (priority + PCT) + freedom-to-operate
Patent attorney
£14,000–£82,000 / yr
Ongoing
Build-out timeline

From decision to open in 12 weeks.

01

Months 1–4 · Spin-out + wet-lab + biosafety

1–16
  • Topco + EMI + IP assignment + TTO spin-out terms (if applicable)
  • Co-lab bench booked (BioLabs / Stevenage / Babraham); biosafety officer engaged
  • HSE biosafety notification + first IP filings
  • ELN (Benchling) + LIMS + R&D-tax-credit accountant onboarded
02

Months 5–12 · Pre-seed milestones + grants

17–48
  • Innovate UK / ARIA / SBRI / Wellcome Leap grant submissions
  • First in vitro / in vivo proof-of-concept data
  • R&D tax credit yr-1 claim drafted
  • Pre-seed close (£600k–£1.4m blended grant + VC)
03

Months 13–24 · Seed + IND-enabling

49–96
  • ISO 15189 / ISO 13485 / GxP framework (if diagnostic / therapeutic)
  • IND-enabling / first-in-human prep (therapeutics) or 510k / UKCA-D (diagnostics)
  • KOL + pharma BD pipeline; 2–3 partnership conversations live
  • Seed close (£3m–£8m)
04

Months 25–36 · Series A or pharma BD

97–144
  • First clinical / pivotal data or BD term-sheet
  • Series A or pharma option-to-license deal
  • Scale-up wet-lab (own space or expanded co-lab)
  • Hire CMO / CSO / CBO as needed
Budget

Realistic startup and monthly cost ranges.

One-off · Startup

Setting up the shop

Legal + topco + EMI + IP + TTO spin-out
£14,000 → £82,000
Co-lab onboarding + biosafety setup
£14,000 → £60,000
Bench equipment (or co-lab inclusive)
£24,000 → £280,000
First 6 months ELN + LIMS + IP + compliance
£18,000 → £82,000
Pre-seed consumables + CRO + reagents
£40,000 → £200,000
Typical total
£110,000 – £704,000
Recurring · Monthly

Keeping the lights on

Co-lab benches (6–10 FTE)
£14,000 → £60,000
Consumables + reagents + CRO access
£8,000 → £42,000
Salaries (8 FTE blended £62k)
£36,000 → £54,000
Compliance + biosafety + IP + R&D-tax-credit
£3,400 → £18,000
Insurance + accounting + audit
£800 → £4,800
BD + travel + conferences
£1,400 → £14,000
Typical total
£63,600 – £192,800
Numbers that compound

How a biotech lab actually looks on a chart.

Illustrative planning ranges, not measured customer data. Toggle the views to see ramp, mix and weekly load.

12-month revenue ramp
Low vs high scenario (£ monthly)
High Low

Illustrative example for planning, not measured customer data.

First 90 days

Dates that actually matter after opening.

01Day 0

Topco incorporated; TTO spin-out (if applicable) closed

02Day 60

Co-lab benches live; biosafety officer + HSE notification done

03Day 120

First IP filings; Innovate UK / ARIA grant submitted

04Day 240

First PoC data; R&D tax credit yr-1 claim drafted

05Day 420

Pre-seed closed (£600k–£1.4m blended)

06Day 720

Seed closed or pharma BD term-sheet; IND-enabling work begun

What's inside

DNA, route, automations, integrations, benchmarks, advisors — tuned for a biotech lab.

01Move
DNA dimensions

Programme stage (TRL / pre-IND / IND / Phase 1), data reproducibility, biosafety level (BSL-1/2/3), HTA / HRA / MHRA / HSE compliance, runway months, IP filings + freedom-to-operate, KOL + advisor density, BD / partnership pipeline.

02Move
Suggested route

Pick a modality (small-molecule / biologic / cell + gene / diagnostic / synbio / agri-bio), secure CL2 wet-lab space, embed GxP + ISO 15189 / ISO 13485 from day one (if diagnostic / therapeutic), and stage Innovate UK / ARIA / Wellcome Leap / SBRI grants before VC dilution.

03Move
Automations

Daily ELN + LIMS digest, weekly experimental-throughput + reproducibility report, monthly IP + freedom-to-operate update, biosafety + waste-disposal log, grant-milestone tracker, BD pipeline + KOL outreach automation.

04Move
Integrations

Benchling / LabArchives ELN, LabWare / STARLIMS, GraphPad + JMP + Spotfire, AWS / GCP for compute (cryo-EM / NGS), Labstep, HRA IRAS + MHRA portal, Salesforce + HubSpot (BD), Xero + R&D-tax-credit accountant.

05Move
Benchmarks

Experiments per FTE per week, reproducibility rate, grant-conversion rate, IP filings per £100k spend vs UK biotech cohort, refreshed quarterly.

06Move
Advisors

Encore advisors who founded / exited UK biotech + ran CL2 wet-labs + closed Innovate UK / ARIA / pharma BD deals, plus NAVIZIX AI for grant-eligibility + R&D-tax-credit modelling.

Stack

Modules used in this playbook.

01DNA Engine02Route Map03Launch Twin04Automation05Verified06Encore
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