Kings Wins £1.5M for UKs First MedTech Company Builder

Professor Sebastien Ourselin FReng FMedSci, Head of the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, will lead the project Collaborative Centre of Excellence for Healthcare Technology Commercial Translation (CCoE). CCoE will combine the expertise and resources within King's to create a pathway for medical devices to develop into early-stage commercialisation ventures and benefit patients.

The CCoE is in partnership with Queen Mary University London, City University of London and St George's University of London. It will be based at the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE), a collocation and collaboration space led by the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences uniquely dedicated to MedTech translation.

The Centre will be home to the UK's first MedTech company builder: an acceleration programme specifically for MedTech startups and spinouts from King's and partners, the UK and abroad. Applicants will receive hands-on executive support from King's 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.

The King's Entrepreneurship Institute will play a crucial role in the design of the programme. The King's team of experts in Quality Assurance, Regulatory Affairs and Health Technology Assessment will also integrate these disciplines into the acceleration programme.

Dr Nicolas Huber, Director, Commercial Operations and Partnerships of the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering, said: "LIHE's mission is to become an evergreen pipeline of medical device innovation to transform the health and care of patients. The CCoE brings together the brightest and most innovative minds across King's and its partners to forge an exciting future for MedTech."

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."

Professor Panicos Kyriacou, Director of the Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering at City, University of London, 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."

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.