At a signing ceremony on Wednesday 16th June, 2010 Queen Mary BioEnterprises - a wholly owned company of Queen Mary, University of London - agreed to lease 1,300 sq. metres of bespoke laboratory floor and clinical beds space to Retroscreen Virology, making the company its first anchor tenant.

The Innovation Centre - the result of a significant capital investment partnership between Queen Mary and the London Development Agency - is located on the College's Whitechapel campus, close to its School of Medicine and Dentistry. The area is fast developing into a 'Life Sciences cluster', boasting a growing network of world-class clinical, teaching and research resources - including both Barts and The London Medical School, ranked top in London, and the Royal London Hospital - that offers exciting benefits for healthcare research, as well as the ongoing regeneration of the area.

The Innovation Centre itself provides state-of-the-art facilities comprising approximately 3,700 sq metres of laboratories and offices designed specifically for high technology companies operating in the Life Sciences sector.

Dr Robert Lambkin-Williams, CEO of Retroscreen Virology said; "This new facility will allow Retroscreen to further enhance its Human Viral Challenge Model capability with dedicated en suite isolation rooms, on site laboratory support and integrated data management. This is the first clinical facility dedicated to Human Viral Challenge Studies since the closure of the Common Cold Institute in the 1990s. As a specialist virology contract research organisation (CRO), Retroscreen is the only company to offer Human Viral Challenge Studies in influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the common cold."

Dean Curtis, Chief Administrative Officer of Queen Mary, University of London said; "Queen Mary is delighted to welcome Retroscreen Virology as a major tenant to the outstanding environment for commercial life sciences research offered by Queen Mary BioEnterprises. We are particularly pleased to have secured such a strong company in this field and are sure that Retroscreen will be an important addition to an already very significant cluster of high quality health-related activity focused on our medical school."

London Development Agency Group Director Business Support and Promotion, Danny Lopez added; "Innovation is vital for business growth and the key to ensuring London remains a leader in the increasingly competitive global market. The LDA is pleased to support the development of the Queen Mary BioEnterprises Innovation Centre and the world-class organisations who are paving the way in this cutting-edge industry."

Retroscreen Virology is always actively recruiting volunteers for its studies, further information can be found on their recruitment website flucamp.com