“This event was excellent I would value more of the same” was one of the many positive comments received from delegates.
BIOMED BUSINESSES had the opportunity at this popular event to discuss the importance of collaboration and funding.
The message to delegates from seasoned entrepreneur Dr Jim Murray, co-founder of bio-giant Shire Pharmaceuticals and now Chief Executive Officer of Bristol-based Hunter-Fleming Ltd was very clear. Businesses and research institutions across the life sciences and healthcare industry in the South West must communicate and collaborate more effectively with each other if the sector is to prosper.
“There is a huge pool of talent in this region – but also a need for better communications between academia and business,” said Dr Murray, who was chairing the event, organised by the region’s biotechnology network BioApproaches South West in conjunction with the South West of England Regional Development Agency, NHS Innovations South West, UK Trade & Investment and the Enterprise Europe Network.
Some 100 delegates were at The Innovation Centre at the University of Exeter to hear speakers on a range of topics, from innovation and training to business strategy and financing, with open floor discussions and case study presentations from individual businesses.
They included Dr Mark Richardson, Vice President R&D at Smith & Nephew Wound Management, who delivered a keynote address on ‘Open Innovation’. He stressed the need for companies to first identify “an unarticulated customer need” before trying to develop a product or service. “It’s no good having a ‘solution’ if there is no ‘need’,” he emphasised.
The other keynote speaker was Peter McPartland of Nucleus Biomed, who provided an illuminating picture of the current investment environment for early-stage biomed companies. “It’s survival of the fittest,” he declared.
One of the region’s success stories is Chippenham-based Vectura, which specialises in inhalation devices and formulation technology. Finance director Anne Hyland traced the company’s development from its birth as a spin-out from Bath University in the 1980s to its evolution today as a key player in the growing ‘respiration’ market with growing revenues from global licensing agreements.
Alasdair MacDonald, of Telemedic Systems in Taunton, told how he resurrected his remote medical diagnosis and monitoring business after an aborted listing in 2001. He paid tribute to the South RDA Innovation Team, UK Trade & Investment and the South West Angel Investor Network for their support.
Other speakers included Professor Nick Talbot, Head of Biosciences at the University of Exeter, Sasha Karakusevic, a consultant dental surgeon who is Director of Performance and Development at South Devon Healthcare Trust, and Dr Zahid Latif, of the Technology Strategy Board.
The event also featured a range of practical ‘surgeries’ and University tours around the Henry Wellcome Centre for Biocatalysis, the Bioimaging Centre, Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Exeter Advanced Technologies (X-AT) and the Multiphoton Imaging and Spectroscopy Laboratory.
Maria Hassard, Chief Executive of NHS Innovations South West, had no doubts about the value of the event. She said: “The point of this is to involve industry, academia and the NHS in an exchange forum where they can share ideas, opinions and information. We all need a mechanism for this process.”
Dr Pauline Lee, Manager of BioApproaches South West, added: ““Feedback has been excellent and BioApproaches South West will continue with our partners to facilitate communication and collaboration across the industry in this region. We chose as our theme ‘research, partnerships and finance for business growth’ because they are the issues at the heart of this sector. We used feedback from a previous event to help shape this event taking into consideration the lifesciences and healthcare business community’s needs.