The West Midlands region benefits from two Medical Schools at universities of international standing. To capitalise on World-class research activity and facilitate the subsequent creation of spin-out companies, the University of Birmingham is planning to build a BioIncubator in close proximity to its College of Medical & Dental Sciences. Medicine at Birmingham was rated 8th in the UK in terms of quality and volume of activity in the recent Research Assessment Exercise. The College secures around £50m of new research funding each year, and currently has active research to the value of £200m. It encompasses over 900 research active staff working in a vibrant research and knowledge transfer environment. The BioIncubator will provide an innovative, dynamic and supportive environment for scientists and entrepreneurs to develop their ideas and create life science companies. Neighbouring science parks (currently in existence and planned) provide important expansion capacity for this sector within the region. Consistent with the creation of similar entities in other regions, public co-investment will be required to establish the BioIncubator and support the environment to help evolve a flourishing regional network of life science companies that will provide a wide range of job opportunities and substantially benefit the economy.