UK's Astex opens new R&D facility at Cambridge Science Park

UK-based drug discovery concern Astex Technology has officially opened its new, 36,000-square-foot R&D facility on the Cambridge Science Park. The new capacity, which is leased from Trinity College, includes purpose-built laboratories, offices and computational facilities.

Housing up to 150 research scientists, and with the option of being extended to cover an additional 30,000 sq ft in the future, the new facility should help Astex achieve its business objectives. "Our previous facilities became very cramped, and spilled-over into mobile units; we now have a much better environment in which to pursue our goal of developing small-molecule therapeutics using our fragment-based discovery approach," said chief executive Tim Haines.