LSHC Horizons Brochure 2024 - Flipbook - Page 12
Hogan Lovells | 2024 Life Sciences and Health Care Horizons | ESG and Supply Chain
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Real estate and life sciences: ESG through a trans-Atlantic lens
The pandemic catapulted Life Sciences into the spotlight. While the UK and US Real Estate Life
Sciences markets continue to thrive, both do so in the face of an ever-tightening ESG agenda.
Here we reflect on the respective challenges and opportunities to sustainable growth.
E
UK
U.S.
Many of the sector’s success stories involve repurposing existing,
often obsolete stock, into lab/research-enabled/CAT A+ turnkey space.
Ground up construction can be less expensive on a per square foot
basis than retrofit though harder to finance without a committed
tenant(s).
Leases must go darker green on alterations to lock in the benefit of
repurposed use and allow recycling of ready-fitted space (and ensure
contaminative risk in wet labs is mitigated by suitable audit and
reporting mechanisms along the way).
The recent shift in the wet to dry lab ratio from 70/30 to 40/60 has
also resulted in a modification to construction and infrastructure
requirements.
S
Government funding and commitment to Horizon Europe
demonstrates commitment to making the UK a global Life Sciences
superpower, but most impactful will be the UK government’s “levelling
up” agenda, which will connect academia and lower-cost facilities
within the triangular boundary of London, Oxford, and Cambridge.
Government investments in building new workspaces, curating
a diverse pipeline of talent to develop new cures and treatments
and fostering access to health care. One example is New York
City’s LifeSci NYC, a $1B+ commitment launched to build new
infrastructure, create thousands of new jobs and give every
neighborhood access to the best health care available.
G
Investors and operators must implement robust corporate
governance not only to satisfy shareholder requirements, but also
their own legislative requirements and customer accountability.
ESG has its place firmly at the corporate table and any market
participants ignoring this will be left behind.
Organizations must incorporate ESG in their daily decisionmaking and implement comprehensive programs to identify,
manage and mitigate issues and liabilities. As governments and
shareholders demand greater transparency regarding progress
toward ESG goals, investors, and operators need to insure their
corporate governance complies with relevant regulations.
Graham Cutts
Partner
London
Jeffrey R. Keitelman
Partner
Washington, D.C.,
New York
Ross F. Moskowitz
Partner
New York
Allissa Kerr
Associate
Washington, D.C.
