A HealthTec Cluster launched today at Sci-Tech Daresbury will grow successful health technology businesses, develop world firsts in medical science and deliver life-changing health innovations both in the North West and nationally.
Led by STFC, part of UK Research and Innovation, in partnership with the Innovation Agency, the Academic Health Science Network for the North West Coast, this new HealthTec Cluster will stimulate cross-sector collaborations and will bring together researchers, industrialists and local clinical champions to support cutting-edge research, commercialisation and the global growth of health technologies, supported by an array of innovation-enabling organisations.
Sir Mark Walport, Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation, spoke at the launch event today and said of the new cluster: “Combining the extraordinary technology strengths of STFC at the Daresbury Campus with the health expertise of the North West Coast Academic Health Sciences Network provides an outstanding setting for the new HealthTec Cluster to develop. By working with the cluster’s many stakeholders, UKRI will enhance capacity to support the development of innovators and industry. This complements the founding objectives of the HealthTec Cluster set up by STFC and its partners at Harwell.”
Liz Mear, Chief Executive at the Innovation Agency, said: “There is a wealth of talent and many fantastic facilities in our region; I am confident that by collaborating in a HealthTec Cluster we will create a powerful magnet for more investment and activities in the North West which will benefit the UK economy – and the health of our population.”
The launch event, held on campus at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory, brought together businesses, stakeholders and experts in the healthcare sector from across the region and beyond to learn more about the Cluster and its purpose, and what opportunities there will be for HealthTec companies. The event included networking opportunities for attendees, with a range of pioneering health technology companies from across the region showcasing their cutting-edge research and developments.
Dr Barbara Ghinelli, Director of Cluster Development at STFC, said: “Together with its sister cluster at Harwell the North West HealthTec Cluster will provide a national asset which will drive the innovation required to address the challenges that the health system faces. In addition it will help the UK become a world leader in developing, validating and adopting affordable innovations at scale, aligned with the UK life sciences Industrial Strategy”
Professor Mark Thomson, STFC Executive Chair, said: “As the host of the North West HealthTec Cluster, Sci-Tech Daresbury already has 32 organisations and over 340 employees on-site driving health technology innovation in the region. The HealthTec Clusters are an incredibly exciting opportunity for the UK. They aim to drive innovation by bringing together the business and research communities, along with access to a unique suite of major scientific facilities.”
Peter Ellingworth Chief Executive Officer, ABHI, added: “A collaborative approach to overcoming challenges in the health tech sector provides a significant opportunity to improve the wealth of our country, whilst delivering solutions that drastically improve people’s lives.”
Nicola Wilson, Interim Chief Executive Officer at the Northern Health Science Alliance, said: “The North of England is a hotbed of dynamic and innovative individuals, organisations and businesses that are achieving incredible things within the Health technology sector. The new North West HealthTec Cluster will maximise the potential of the region’s offer by tapping into the wealth of expertise here to speed up the health innovation process, which will bring economic benefits and help to improve the health and wellbeing of people across the North and beyond.”
Only the second of its kind in the UK, alongside the cluster at STFC’s Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire, the Sci-Tech Daresbury HealthTec Cluster brings together and connects capabilities from academic, public and private organisations to create a vibrant research and development ecosystem.
For more information visit https://www.sci-techdaresbury.com/
Submitted on 31/05/2019
