Accelerating Growth and Innovation in the North of England Life Sciences sector - Sci-Tech Daresbury Roundtable report

The pitch deck for life sciences in the North of England continues to expand with an ever-growing base of R&D-based companies and manufacturers focused on global markets. The North also benefits from a wealth of science parks, research-led universities and regional development strategies that have a strong focus on the innovation economy. Yet for all the progress and excitement, there is a feeling that the best is still to come in the North and that opportunities abound to make an even deeper impact on the government’s avowed intention to make the UK a scientific superpower. 

Life science is at the forefront because, quite simply, health comes before everything else. In global terms the sector is considered one of the great drivers of growth in the 21st century as the ability to use innovation and technological advances to diagnose, treat, cure, and prevent a much wider range of diseases comes with potentially enormous socio-economic benefits. The UK is not alone in reaching this conclusion and the race is on to determine which countries will take the lead in pharma, biotechnology and MedTech over the next decade and beyond. To cast light on the how the North can unlock more potential and help the UK compete, Sci-Tech Daresbury and its joint venture partners, Langtree, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and Halton Borough Council gathered a panel of industry leaders, investors, and stakeholders to explore the way ahead. The debate took place at Sci-Tech Daresbury’s Innovation Centre. It was the first building in operation when the campus was launched in September 2006 and today stands at the centre of a vastly expanded science estate that is home to a growing community of 150 R&D focused companies and a place of work for 2,000 people. The discussion was set in the context of Office of Life Science’s 10-year strategy for the sector and focused on some of the key issues it has identified as on the critical path to the UK achieving its ambitions.

The panel comprised of the following experts in the Life Sciences sector:

•  Andrew Thelwell, Chief Commercial Officer for Sky Medical Technology
• Claire Eyers, Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor Research and Impact (Faculty of Health and Life Science), University of Liverpool
• Damian Kelly, Vice President – Innovation & Technology, Croda Europe Plc
• Geoff Davison, Chief Executive Officer, Bionow
• Professor Janet Hemingway, founding Director of the Infection Innovation Consortium (iiCON), and former Director of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
• John Leake, Business Growth Director, Sci-Tech Daresbury
• Mark Wyatt, Investment Director, Northern Gritstone
• Massimo Noro, UKRI-STFC Director Business Development and UKRI-nominated Director on UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S)
• Phil Carvil, Head of North West Clusters, UKRI-STFC
• Tony Woods, Business Development Director, Health Innovation North West Coast 

To read the full report please go to https://sci-techdaresbury.com/accelerating-growth-innovation-in-the-north-of-englands-life-sciences-sector/.