The London Cancer District is a powerful life sciences ecosystem and home to two of the world’s global leaders in cancer research and treatment, The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden.
It is a community with a shared mission, in a purpose-made environment, designed to outpace cancer by bringing together every part of the solution. From research to discovery, and from development to treatment.
Advanced facilities help to foster innovation and progress, and the abundant green space creates a healthy and nature-rich environment where partnerships can thrive. Designed for collaboration, The London Cancer District offers an unrivalled location and community for the people and organisations working to transform cancer research, treatment and care. Time to join us? Download our brochure to find the right space for your business.
Home to The Institute of Cancer Research, The Royal Marsden, Maggie’s, and pioneering life sciences businesses, the London Cancer District puts you at the heart of world-leading cancer research and care. This powerful life sciences ecosystem enables you to collaborate and connect with researchers, doctors and innovators with a shared mission to outpace cancer.
The London Cancer District is built to help make the science move faster. Ready-to-go incubator space and access to advanced facilities at the Innovation Gateway will help you kickstart your vision. And, when it’s time to hit the growth button, you’ll find a wide range of options within the London Cancer District designed to accelerate your progress.
1 million sq ft of state-of-the-art laboratory and research space, and home to two of the world’s leading cancer research and treatment facilities. The London Cancer District gives you the critical life science and research infrastructure to support innovation and accelerate life-saving discoveries.
12 acres of space to inspire innovation and foster wellbeing. With its 2km nature trail and wildflower meadow, shops, café’s and a padel centre, the District’s carefully designed amenities have been created to nurture health and wellbeing – all within just 30 minutes of central London.
Since 1851, The Royal Marsden has led the way in cancer research, education and treatment, building a legacy of innovation that continues to shape the future of cancer care. Renowned globally for its leading-edge research and leadership in advancing cancer treatments and technologies, The Royal Marsden is consistently recognised among the world’s top 10 specialised hospitals.
The Institute of Cancer Research is one of the largest centres for phase I clinical trials in the world and makes an important contribution to the worldwide effort to discover and develop new cancer drugs. The Institute of Cancer Research works in close partnership with The Royal Marsden to take the results of research rapidly into the clinic, with the aim of developing better treatments for cancer patients.
Together, The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden are ranked in the top four centres for cancer research and treatment worldwide.
Two
world-leading partners committed to treating cancer
50,000
patients treated annually at The Royal Marsden
100
years of cancer discoveries at The Institute of Cancer Research
#4
ranked in top four centres for cancer research and treatment worldwide
The Institute of Cancer Research discovered that DNA damage is the basic cause of cancer, laying the foundation for the idea that cancer is a genetic disease. As well as discovering many cancer-related genes – including the breast, prostate and ovarian cancer gene BRCA2 – and revolutionised radiotherapy to make it more targeted, with fewer side effects. The Institute of Cancer Research discovers more new cancer drugs than any other academic centre in the world.
Since 1851, research and innovation have been central to The Royal Marsden. From pioneering cancer treatments to today’s precision medicine and clinical trials, its discoveries have transformed the lives of patients around the world. In 2021, The Royal Marsden established the world’s first centre dedicated to head and neck cancer, the 8th most common form of cancer in the UK.
London is establishing itself as a substantial global life science cluster, demonstrating strong credentials to attract and retain research and development organisations across the commercial and academic spectrum.
The London Cancer District is the focal point in South London for a community of researchers, clinical institutions, big pharma and a wide range of biotech and medtech companies.
At The Institute of Cancer Research, London, we work with our clinical partner The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, and organisations across the UK and internationally, to transform the lives of cancer patients and their families.
Listen to Dr Alaric Taylor talking about Vesynta at The London Cancer District. Vesynta’s DosoLogic is the prescribing co-pilot that brings model-informed precision dosing (MIPD) to the point of care for safer, patient-specific doses.
Plans for the £1 billion expansion of London Cancer Hub, led by Aviva Capital Partners and development manager Socius, have been approved by Sutton Council. Granted on World Cancer Day (4 February), the scheme will deliver around 1 million sq ft of laboratory and research space across 12 acres, supporting collaboration between researchers, clinicians, start-ups and global life sciences companies.
Listen to Dr Meysam Keshavaraz talking about ExoNostic at The London Cancer District. ExoNostic is developing next-generation liquid biopsy diagnostics that enable earlier and more accessible disease detection. Their platform applies holistic molecular analysis to small biological samples, generating detailed diagnostic insights that support early cancer detection, treatment monitoring and wider biomarker discovery.
Listen to Jeff Drew talking about Kindling Bio at The London Cancer District. Kindling Bio is a London-based biotechnology start-up treating one scalable gene therapy to flag multiple childhood tumors for immune destruction.
