Sectors We Work In

Biotech & Life Sciences

Axentia programme-manages laboratory facilities for life sciences organisations, from feasibility through to accreditation. Four areas of the sector are currently moving from start-up into scale-up, and we track them because a facility commissioned today has to suit the work that will be running in it in five years.

Sectors We Work In

Biotech & Life Sciences

Axentia programme-manages laboratory facilities for life sciences organisations, from feasibility through to accreditation. Four areas of the sector are currently moving from start-up into scale-up, and we track them because a facility commissioned today has to suit the work that will be running in it in five years.

Robotic laboratory automation

Automation has moved on from liquid handling platforms to integrated systems that run complex workflows unattended. Costs are falling while capability rises, which brings it within reach of more organisations. Paired with an AI model, the lab-in-the-loop approach lets results feed back and a revised experiment run without human interaction.

What this means for facility projects

Layouts may need optimising around automated workflows instead of human ones. Network capacity and digital infrastructure become a services requirement, since the machines have to stay online. Detailed workflow mapping is needed before deployment, and a complex workflow can take close to a year to implement.

AI drug discovery, CROs,
and CDMOs

AI and machine learning are now part of most drug discovery pipelines. Models predict drug target interactions quickly, though laboratory validation is still required, and more candidates passing early screening raises demand on laboratories. Discovery companies tend to run small laboratories, so the work lands with CROs and CDMOs. The drug discovery services market is projected to grow from $19.76bn in 2025 to $36.2bn in 2034.

What this means for facility projects

Concurrent projects inside a CDMO need robust segregation of materials, data and workflows. Instrumentation has to integrate with the models it feeds. High-capacity data infrastructure is needed to support model refinement.

Precision medicine and mRNA

Personalised medicine has been discussed in healthcare for years. In June, a personalised mRNA vaccine used alongside a standard-of-care drug showed a 50% reduction in the rate of melanoma recurrence. mRNA is quick and cheap to develop, though it carries strict cold-chain storage requirements and a difficult public perception after the pandemic.

What this means for facility projects

Cleanrooms for RNA manufacture, GMP-compliant manufacturing environments, and a design that supports MHRA marketing authorisation. Sequencing capacity sits alongside, since a personalised treatment depends on sequencing the patient first.

Multiomics: DNA, RNA,
and proteins

Falling DNA sequencing costs have widened access to genomic technologies. Clinicians are more likely to request sequencing, and organisations are more likely to bring it in-house. RNA sequencing matters diagnostically and as a quality control tool for RNA therapeutics. Proteomics is still developing and is expected to become more important alongside genomics.

What this means for facility projects

Laboratory requirements here are largely conventional. High-capacity data storage, transfer and analysis infrastructure is the critical design consideration.

Life Sciences Facilities

Laboratories built to accreditation

Compliant, scalable environments for research, diagnostics and manufacturing – delivered from feasibility through to ISO accreditation and start-up.

Not on the list? We regularly deliver hybrid and one-off facilities. If your project sits somewhere between these types, the same disciplined process applies — feasibility, design, build and certify, under a single point of accountability.

Case Studies

Examples of Biotech & Life Science projects we've delivered

Construction Management
York, UK

York Biotech Campus – Insect Quarantine & Containment Laboratory

End-to-end programme management encompassing user requirements, design, tender and construction management.
View Case Study
5 + 1
CE rooms + main lab
200 sqm
High-containment complex
No new-build
Within existing warehouse

Blogs

Biotech & Life Science Related Blogs

Biotech & Life Science

Office to Lab Conversions: The Sustainable Solution to Lab Space Shortages

Read more
Biotech & Life Science

Axentia: When Starting Up a Lab Space, the End User is King

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Biotech & Life Science

UK Biotech is Booming: The Rush to Build Lab Spaces

Read more

Have a facility in mind?

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