Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, paid a short visit to the LMB on 3 October to learn about the Laboratory’s work, find out about its recent successes in the commercial exploitation of discoveries, and get a first sight of the LMB’s new building.

After a short overview of the LMB’s work, from Hugh Pelham and Martin Dougherty, the Business Secretary visited Jan Löwe’s laboratory to get an insight into bench research. In the laboratory, Jan and Chris Tate talked to the Business Secretary about their work and the founding of the LMB start-up company Heptares Therapeutics, set up to exploit pioneering new technology to stabilize G-protein-coupled receptors.

Following the visit Martin Dougherty said: “Vince Cable was keen to understand the full range of the LMB’s commercial activity and how our curiosity driven research has been translated into business success.”