Antiviral research company, Retroscreen Virology has completed a deal to assign the entire Emmanuel building from current occupiers, Pfizer. Retroscreen will take over the lease from Pfizer, which runs until December 2022. 

Retroscreen Virology operates both a clinical services business and a pre-clinical translational research business. The clinical services business is built around their own Human Viral Challenge Model (HCM) which enables pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as world leading academic groups, to accelerate and reduce the cost of bringing anti-viral drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines to market.  

The facility, which is targeted to be fully operational in early 2015, will dramatically improve and broaden the Company’s operational capability. In particular, this planned expansion will allow Retroscreen both to conduct clinical studies for its clients and to leverage its new viral challenge models for commercial and research purposes.

Kym Denny, Retroscreen Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Retroscreen is actively broadening its capabilities and this new bespoke facility at Chesterford will allow us to undertake bedside to bench biomedical research all on one site. This exciting development follows the successful inoculation of our 1,500th volunteer, which was achieved in just over a year since reaching the landmark of our 1,000th volunteer inoculation on 10 December 2012. This is a testament to the industry’s adoption of our viral challenge models and our client delivery.”