Three new life sciences firms have been created by former Pfizer staff - and are now up and running at their old employer’s old home.

The new companies are now operating from Discovery Park in Sandwich - the science park that was once the sprawling home of the US-based pharmaceutical giant.

Pfizer dramatically scaled back its operations in 2011 - with the loss of close to 2,000 jobs. It retained a reduced presence on the site but reduced that further with the loss of some 500 jobs at the end of last year.

But from those most recent redundancies has spawned new life.

Research organisations Biowaived, Matheus Engineering and Particology Ltd have all been created by former Pfizer staff.

Their launch has been supported by Pfizer’s Pharmaceutical Sciences Small Molecule (PSSM) division, with contracts for work to build their initial viability and momentum.

Biowaived provides laboratory, computational modelling services and consultancy to clients within the pharmaceutical industry to help better understand and predict how the medicines they are developing will perform when dosed to patients.

Matheus Engineering specialises in chemical process engineering-based scientific services for pharmaceutical and fine chemical sectors. It works with businesses to develop and troubleshoot manufacturing processes, often developing bespoke engineering technologies to address process specific challenges.

Particology Ltd sets out to be a one-stop-shop providing industry-leading particle technology contract research and consulting services.

Mayer Schreiber, CEO at Discovery Park, said: “When Pfizer first announced it was consolidating its operations, it marked a pivotal moment for us and the local life sciences community. As with any challenges in our industry, we quickly adapted and I’m immensely proud of how Discovery Park’s team has collaborated with Pfizer colleagues and the Barclays Eagle Lab to support talented individuals to establish these three innovative new businesses.”