International life sciences contract research organisation Chemveda Life Sciences has chosen the University of Dundee’s Life Sciences Innovation Hub as the base for its European operations. Dundee will become Chemveda’s first European site when the company moves into state-of-the-art laboratory accommodation at the Hub, supported by grant funding from Scottish Enterprise to help anchor high-value R&D activity in the city.
Chemveda, headquartered in Hyderabad, India, already employs hundreds of people across its global locations, including offices in San Diego and Boston, and provides discovery and development services to pharmaceutical and biotech clients worldwide. In Dundee, the firm plans to build a fully integrated discovery platform spanning small molecules, peptides, oligonucleotides, advanced modalities and process R&D, giving European customers access to end-to-end support within Scotland’s growing life sciences ecosystem.
Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government have invested heavily in the Life Sciences Innovation Hub as part of a wider Tay Cities biomedical cluster, with the facility designed to provide world-class laboratory and office space for spin-outs and “spin-ins” like Chemveda. The Hub offers flexible, modular, high-spec labs, modern office accommodation and shared collaboration spaces, allowing companies to expand their footprint as they grow, and sits at the heart of an innovation district that aims to create hundreds of high-value jobs in Tayside over the coming decades.
Chemveda’s decision to locate in Dundee is expected to create new high-value roles in the city in the first phase, with scope to scale further if demand continues to grow. For local researchers and early-stage companies, having an international CRO embedded in the Hub could open up fresh collaboration and commercial pathways in areas such as drug discovery, advanced therapeutics and translational research.
The story shows how targeted public-sector investment in infrastructure and grants is attracting global life sciences players to Scottish innovation districts, not just major cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow. It also highlights Dundee’s strengthening position as a life sciences and biotech centre, with the Life Sciences Innovation Hub acting as a magnet for inward investment and a bridge between academic excellence and commercial growth.
