Life Sciences at Charles Russell Speechlys

The current healthcare and life sciences sector offers opportunities for innovative companies to introduce new products and gain market share.

We can help you to focus on strategic and commercial matters whilst limiting potential liabilities. Our Life Sciences team combines legal expertise, commercial insight and scientific understanding to provide you with a solutions-focused service. We will work alongside you advising on any issues from transfer agreements to complex and technical patent litigation.

Our clients include cutting-edge businesses engaged in research, manufacturing, sales and distribution. We also work with colleges and universities, business incubators, research organisations, clinical trial providers, entrepreneurs and successful inventors.

Real Estate Life Sciences

The Life Sciences industry is growing, with increasing investment triggering a higher demand for Real Estate across the UK.

Our Life Sciences Real Estate team will work alongside your business to help you assess both the opportunities and the risks you may face. We have worked with Life Sciences Real Estate Developers and Investors for over a decade and we understand the particular nuances of this asset class.

We support you through the entire asset life cycle including:

Due diligence on potential investment opportunities, including tax and structuring advice
Site assembly and acquisition, including by way of agreements conditional on planning
Strategic advice on the planning process and s106 agreements
Development agreements and pre-lets
Procurement and construction documents
Ongoing management of the portfolio, including lettings, re-gears, variations, licence applications and advice on end of tenancy issues
Funding, including forward funding and other development finance and sale
Led by Commercial Real Estate Partner Louise Ward and supported by a large multi-disciplinary team, including planning, construction, rights of light, real estate disputes and tax, our experience means that we are well placed to advise both existing operators and new entrants into this booming sector.

Led by Commercial Real Estate Partner Louise Ward and supported by a large multi-disciplinary team, including planning, construction, rights of light, real estate disputes and tax, our experience means that we are well placed to advise both existing operators and new entrants into this booming sector.

Our Recent Experience

BioMed Realty

BioMed Realty has been a client of Charles Russell Speechlys since they entered the UK market in 2012. We advised on the initial acquisition of Granta Park. Since then, we have acted on all letting, development and management matters at the Park, including the development of new R&D facilities for both Illumina Inc and Gilead Sciences.

The Pirbright Institute

We advise the world-leading research centre on their 12 year, £500 million billion redevelopment programme of their Surrey campus, establishing them as the foremost state-of-the-art institute in the world for research on some of the most devastating viruses of farmed animals. Our advice and services include procurement strategy and drafting, and negotiation of all the construction documentation.

IQVIA

We advise IQVIA on all aspects of its real estate, construction and planning requirements ranging from its HQ premises to corporate acquisitions. We recently advised on the simultaneous disposal of its 120,000 sq. ft premises at Green Park, Reading to Virgin Media and its new lease at M&G’s Forbury Place development in Reading.

BioMed @ Babraham

We recently advised BioMed on the conditional acquisition by way of a 99 year lease of an 8-acre site at the Babraham Institute and redevelopment into life sciences office and laboratory space - alongside the existing Babraham Campus. We acted on property, planning and construction matters for this leading partnership. The site is now fully let to tenants including RxCelerate and Mission Therapeutics.

Meet the team