Member Article

US biotech firm increases Teesside presence following successful year

US biotech firm Calysta has expanded its facilities at the Wilton Centre, Teesside, a year on from moving in at the site.

The company, which has developed a new naturally produced fish and animal feed ingredient, called FeedKind® protein, has leased an additional 2,400 sq ft of office, laboratory and storage space at the science and business park.

The new space is in addition to Calysta’s two laboratories, seven offices and the production plant it took in December 2016 on a ten year lease. The additional units mean that the business now has a presence of more than 29,000 sq ft at the site where it employs 15 people.

Calysta’s expansion comes soon after winning a prestigious global prize for the design, construction and successful launch of its new market introduction production facility for FeedKind® protein at the Wilton Centre.

Calysta and partners, the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), also based at the Wilton Centre, and Otto Simon Ltd were awarded the 2017 Institution of Chemical Engineers’ Global Team Award for excellence in November 2017, beating more than 140 entries from 21 countries.

Graham Aylen, MD Calysta UK says: “The Wilton Centre provides Calysta with utilities and infrastructure on a shared resource basis enabling the company to focus on its core activities. This, coupled with the benefits of being part of a process industry cluster convinced us to choose the Wilton Centre in the first place and now to expand there.”

“We are delighted that Calysta has committed to more space at the Wilton Centre for its world-beating, highly innovative process,” says Steve Duffield, Site Director at the Wilton Centre.

“It benefits, as do many of our tenants, from being located on the same complex as CPI and the process industry cluster led by NEPIC. Calysta’s success is a great example of what can be achieved by all the engineering and manufacturing expertise we have on Teesside.”

Stephen Brown, Senior Partner at Middlesbrough-based Dodds Brown is the letting agent for the office space at the Wilton Centre.

He says: “It’s not just the Wilton Centre’s unique combination of office, laboratory and process development space which attracts tenants, but its proximity to the Wilton International site, good road, rail, air and port links and clusters of similar organisations.”