City partners with King’s College London and others to develop the UK's first MedTech company builder

Funded by Research England’s Connecting Capability Fund, a new £1.5m project will develop a fully supported acceleration programme that will translate medical technologies and devices, also known as 'MedTech,' from the concept phase through to achieving commercial success and delivering real-world, clinical impact.

MedTech is of key importance to the UK health and care system. It includes items we depend upon every day, from a simple plaster for a scraped knee, to life-saving blood tests that detect cancer early and robots that perform highly complex surgeries.

Panicos Kyriacou is Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the School of Science & Technology, City, University of London and Director of City's  Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering.

He will lead City's contribution to the 'Collaborative Centre of Excellence' (CCoE) project. The CCoE will be home to the UK’s first MedTech company builder: an acceleration programme specifically for MedTech startups and spinouts from the partners, the UK and abroad.  The acceleration programme will combine the expertise and resources of its partners to create a pathway for MedTech to develop into early-stage commercialisation ventures and benefit patients.

CCoE will be based at the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE), King’s College London, a collocation and collaboration space dedicated to MedTech translation.

Applicants to the CCoE will receive hands-on executive support from specialists in healthcare, entrepreneurship, and innovation to create a seamless pipeline of novel healthcare technologies for commercial and clinical success.

Crucially, a select number of academic founders joining the CCoE will be supported by grant funding to subsidise their time, enabling them to take part in the CCoE’s intensive programme.

Professor Kyriacou said:

Technological innovation lies at the heart of academia; however, commercial translation of such innovations has traditionally been poor, particularly in the healthcare sector. The creation of the Collaborative Centre of Excellence for Healthcare Technology Commercial Translation will mitigate the current barriers research faces and enable transformative healthcare technologies to reach from “bench to bedside.

Professor Miguel Mera, Vice-President (Research) at City, University of London, said:

I am delighted that we have been successful in this highly competitive call, and I am especially pleased that we have worked so closely with our partner institutions to achieve the result. This collaboration will allow us to commercialise innovative medical devices that will have genuine clinical impact.

Professor Sebastien Ourselin, Head of the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, at King's College London, and who will lead the CCoE project, said:

I am delighted to receive this support from Research England’s Connecting Capability Fund to develop the next generation of MedTech startups by creating a pathway for university-inspired research from bench to bedside to boardroom.

Ambalika Batra-Penny, Head of Enterprise, Innovation and Contracts at St George’s, University of London said:

“As the UK’s only university to specialise in healthcare and medicine, St George’s has a strong track record of harnessing health research to facilitate the development of impactful medical technologies. We’re excited to work with our partners and see this platform help accelerate innovation through enabling MedTech companies to work with our academic and clinical colleagues, with access to our world-class facilities.”

Amrita Ahluwalia, Dean for Research-Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London, said:

"I am delighted Research England are supporting The Collaborative Centre of Excellence for Healthcare Technology Commercial Translation. This funding will support the progress of MedTech startups and deliver economic and societal impact in the UK while simultaneously benefitting patients through some of the most promising and exciting innovations today."

The Connecting Capability Fund (CCF) began in 2017, awarding competitive projects funding for collaborations between universities and with private sector partners, to achieve more effective research commercialisation and collaboration with business partners.