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Stevenage, UK, April 26 2013 – Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC), the UK’s first open innovation (OI) bioscience campus, believes that the convergence of multiple innovative technologies is one of the future’s most important healthcare trends. Working across a range of areas - including drugs, devices, diagnostics, ICT, nanotechnology, regenerative medicine, e-health, robotics and biosensors - is expected to create many cutting-edge new products. How to catalyse innovation, promote development and access funding in this area are some of the topics to be discussed at SBC’s Convergent Medical Technologies conference on May 21.
With an opening address from Sir William Castell, Chairman of the Wellcome Trust, on the key opportunities and challenges presented by convergent medical technologies, the interactive day consists of panels and workshops focused on driving this area forward. Representatives of Imperial Innovations, J&J, the Medical Research Council, Syncona Partners, GE Healthcare, Aston Group and Desktop Genetics are among the other speakers.
Dr Martino Picardo, CEO of Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, said, ‘Many thanks are due to the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership for its generous sponsorship of this event, which will enable us to map out the way ahead for convergent medical technologies. This promises to be a thought-provoking event for entrepreneurs, funders, academics and companies from large to small.’
John Gourd, Chairman of Hertfordshire LEP, said, ‘Part of our remit is to support the development of the life sciences cluster in and around Hertfordshire, creating an open innovation climate in which companies can maximise their potential. Our sponsorship of this exciting conference reflects our desire to develop networks which bring diverse businesses together, in order to stimulate commercial opportunities which would otherwise not occur.’
For more information, please contact:
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst
Martino Picardo, CEO +44 (0)1438 906906
Emma Palmer Foster, Strategic Communications Consultant +44 (0)7880 787185
comms@stevenagecatalyst.com
Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership
Ed Blackwell, Communications Executive +44 (0)1707 358744
About Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst is the UK’s first open innovation bioscience campus, pioneering a unique culture to drive early stage bioscience technology and company development, and building a thriving community. It is backed by £38m of funding from its founding partners – GlaxoSmithKline, the Wellcome Trust, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Technology Strategy Board and the former East of England Development Agency. Consisting of an Incubator, an Accelerator and a Hub, covering 60,000 sq ft of laboratory, office and networking space, the independent facility houses a range of companies, from virtual and start-up firms to those which are more established, as well as other organisations. Located on the GlaxoSmithKline Stevenage site, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst is in the unique position of operating in proximity to the expertise and resources of a major pharmaceutical company, close to both London and Cambridge. For more information, please go to www.stevenagecatalyst.com.
About Hertfordshire LEP
The LEP’s ambition is for Hertfordshire to become a world-leading economy; one of the top three in the country outside London. To achieve this, the LEP will strive to ensure that EU, central government and local authority investment can be utilised where possible to kick start growth and or provide some of the infrastructure needed to unlock investment. www.hertfordshirelep.com
About Open Innovation
Firms using Open Innovation (OI) combine their own R&D with externally sourced ideas and expertise. OI is characterised by highly effective use of connections and networks to exchange knowledge and ideas, external partners being involved at all stages of product development, equitable win-win business relationships, and new business models to maximise the value of intellectual property and other assets. Examples in various sectors have shown that the benefits of OI include reduced time to market for new products and services, access to new markets, improved innovation success rates and increased profits. SBC will promote use of Open Innovation within the life sciences sector, connecting SMEs with an active network consisting of GlaxoSmithKline and its other stakeholders, academia, charities, other businesses and funding bodies. The term ‘Open Innovation’ and related research into its practice have been developed extensively by Professor Henry Chesbrough, Executive Director of the Program in Open Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley (http://openinnovation.berkeley.edu).
About Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst’s stakeholders
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst’s stakeholders are GlaxoSmithKline (www.gsk.com), the Wellcome Trust (www.wellcome.ac.uk), the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (www.bis.gov.uk), the Technology Strategy Board (www.innovateuk.org) and the former East of England Development Agency (www.eeda.org.uk)
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