Mission Street and BGO have signed the first tenant at Inventa: Biotech firm Nucleome Therapeutics

Joint venture partners Mission Street and investment manager
BentallGreenOak (BGO) have signed the first tenant at Inventa, their newly completed purpose-built commercial science scheme in central Oxford.

Biotechnology firm Nucleome Therapeutics has agreed to take 20,000 sq ft offitted labs and offices at the 65,000 sq ft building.

Located at Botley Road, Inventa is the first commercial science building to be delivered in Oxford’s West End. The site is within walking distance to Oxford train station and the city centre, offering a direct access to central Oxford and the western Ring Road.

The development features BREEAM Very Good and EPC B rating. Amenities at Inventa include private landscaped gardens with breakout space, onsite catering and a cafe, showers and changing facilities, provisions for 24 electric vehicle charging stations, and 60 cycle spaces.

Mission Street secured planning consent in December 2023 for the West End’s second phase, dubbed Fabrica. Construction for the 183,000 sq ft, 5-storey scheme is due to commence in September this year.

The two developments form part of the partnership’s 1.5m sq ft life sciences development pipeline in key locations across the UK, including the ‘Golden Triangle’ of Oxford, Cambridge and London.

Originally a spinout from Oxford University, Nucleome aims to address traditional drug discovery failure rates by derisking novel targets through proprietary genomics approaches. The firm will be relocating from its existing headquarters at the Oxford Science Park.

In 2022, Nucleome completed an oversubscribed £37.5m Series A funding round backed by investors including Oxford Science Enterprises, M Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, British Patient Capital and Johnson & Johnson Innovation.

Artem Korolev, founder and chief executive at Mission Street, said: “Following extensive collaboration between our teams in designing and delivering Nucleome’s facility, we are excited to welcome them to Inventa for the next chapter of their growth.”

We look forward to building a long-term partnership with them and delivering a world class urban innovation district across Inventa, Fabrica and the wider West End.

Stephen Harrison, chief scientific officer at Nucleome Therapeutics,
added: “Nucleome’s expansion, driven by the significant progress in identifying new drug candidates, has resulted in a need for larger office and lab space.”

We chose Inventa because of its central location, and Mission Street’s reputation for designing buildings that thoroughly accommodate the needs of life science companies. We are looking forward to being part of this exciting new science and innovation hub in central Oxford.

CBRE and Bidwells advised on the leasing.