Translational medicine, stem cell therapy, personalised medicine and open collaboration: all are key factors in steering drug research towards a more productive future. And all are being brought together on a burgeoning science campus near Edinburgh that aims to draw the attention of the biopharmaceutical industry and investors and facilitate the launch of a dozen innovative spin-out companies over the next few years.

The new Edinburgh BioQuarter initiative in Scotland will be launching its first two bioscience spin-out companies in the coming weeks, its commercial director Dr Michael Capaldi told Scrip. These are likely to be followed by a further two or three companies by the end of the year. The companies will span a range of bioscience areas, from therapeutics - including orphan drugs, to devices and diagnostics.

Strasbourg, France-based Faust Pharmaceuticals aims to identify and develop small molecule drug candidates that can modulate the level of neurotransmitters in the brain to treat neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease.

Strasbourg, France-based Faust Pharmaceuticals aims to identify and develop small molecule drug candidates that can modulate the level of neurotransmitters in the brain to treat neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease.