Mission Street and BGO sign leading biotech Nucleome Therapeutics at Inventa, central Oxford’s first commercial science scheme

• Specialist innovation real estate platform Mission Street and investor BGO have signed leading biotech firm Nucleome Therapeutics for 20,000 sq ft on a 10-year lease at Inventa, central Oxford’s first purpose-built commercial science scheme
• Nucleome Therapeutics is relocating its Oxford HQ to accommodate its expansion plans
• Science and innovation companies are increasingly demanding world-class labs and offices close to city centres

OXFORD – 15 JULY 2024 – Mission Street, a specialist investor, developer and operator for the science and innovation sector, and BGO, a leading global real estate investment manager have together in partnership signed leading biotechnology company Nucleome Therapeutics (Nucleome) as a landmark tenant at central Oxford’s first purpose-built commercial science scheme. Nucleome will occupy 20,000 sq ft of fitted labs and offices in the 65,000 sq ft building.

Inventa is the first commercial science scheme to be delivered in Oxford’s West End, the only innovation district within walking distance to Oxford train station and the city centre. The West End has a long-term pipeline of over 2 million sq ft of commercial and academic buildings and will play a crucial role in realising Oxford’s ambitions to become a global top three innovation cluster by 2040.

Mission Street secured planning consent in December 2023 for the West End’s second phase, known as Fabrica. Construction for the 183,000 sq ft, 5-storey, new-build scheme is due to commence in September this year. The two schemes, which have been a catalyst for change in the micro location highlight both Mission Street and BGO’s strong conviction for well-connected, amenity rich innovation clusters. Together, both firms have a pipeline of 1.5m sq ft in such locations in Oxford, Cambridge and Bristol.

Originally a spinout from Oxford University, Nucleome aims to address traditional drug discovery failure rates by derisking novel targets through proprietary genomics approaches. Nucleome will be relocating from its existing headquarters at the Oxford Science Park. In 2022 the company completed an oversubscribed £37.5 million 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 CEO of 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 of Nucleome Therapeutics, said: “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.

About Mission Street

Mission Street was established in 2017 as an investor, developer and operator specialising in the sciences and innovation sector.

Senior leadership has unrivalled experience and expertise in delivering Science and Innovation buildings and is supported by an advisory board comprising industry leaders Peter Finan, Tim Funnell, Jonathan Hepple and Nick Sturge.

The company is at various stages of developing a 1.5m sq ft pipeline in Oxford, Cambridge and Bristol. This includes the next available space to be delivered in the Oxford and Cambridge markets.

The company is a proven innovator and market leader in the Innovation Real Estate sector, delivering successful and complex projects including both new-build R&D buildings and creative conversions of industrial and retail buildings.

For more information, visit www.mission-property.com

About BGO

BGO is a leading, global real estate investment management advisor, real estate lender, and a globally recognized provider of real estate services. BGO serves the interests of more than 750 institutional clients with approximately $82 billion USD of assets under management (as of March 31, 2024) and expertise in the asset management of office, industrial, multi-residential, retail and hospitality property across the globe. BGO has offices in 27 cities across thirteen countries with deep, local knowledge, experience, and extensive networks in the regions where we invest in and manage real estate assets on behalf of our clients in primary, secondary and co-investment markets. BGO is a part of SLC Management, which is the alternatives asset management business of Sun Life.

The assets under management shown above includes real estate equity and mortgage investments managed by the BGO group of companies and their affiliates, and as of 1Q21, includes certain uncalled capital commitments for discretionary capital until they are legally expired and excludes certain uncalled capital commitments where the investor has complete discretion over investment.

For more information, please visit www.bgo.com  

About Nucleome Therapeutics www.nucleome.com

Nucleome was founded in 2019. Its technology has the potential to improve drug discovery success rates by discovering precision medicines, and more accurately identifying patients who are likely to benefit from particular treatments. Nucleome’s platform can be applied in any tissue or disease. The initial in-house focus is inflammatory diseases and targets for biologic medicines. The company is also forging external collaborations both in target discovery and validation, and in patient stratification.

Nucleome was founded by leading experts in gene regulation from the University of Oxford. The Company is backed by a world-class syndicate of investors that includes M Ventures, the strategic corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Johnson and Johnson Innovation-JJDC, Inc. (“JJDC”), the strategic venture capital arm of Johnson & Johnson; Pfizer Ventures, the venture group of Pfizer; British Patient Capital and founding investor Oxford Science Enterprises.

Media Contact

Joshua Carson
Senior Consultant, Montfort Communications
carson@montfort.london

Artem Korolev
CEO, Mission Street
artem@mission-property.com