Published: 24 October 2023
St George’s has partnered with King’s College London, Queen Mary University London and City, University of London to develop a fully supported acceleration programme that will translate medical devices to commercial success and clinical impact.
This is thanks to £1.5m in funding secured by King's from Research England’s Connecting Capability Fund.
Professor Sebastien Ourselin, Head of the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King’s, will lead the project Collaborative Centre of Excellence for Healthcare Technology Commercial Translation (CCoE). CCoE will combine the expertise and resources to create a pathway for medical devices to develop into early-stage commercialisation ventures and benefit patients.
The CCoE will be based at the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE), a collocation and collaboration space led by King’s School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences uniquely dedicated to MedTech translation.
Bench to bedside to boardroom
The Centre will be home to the UK’s first MedTech company builder: an acceleration programme specifically for MedTech startups and spinouts from St George’s and partners, the UK and abroad. Applicants will receive hands-on executive support from specialists in healthcare, entrepreneurship, and innovation to create a seamless pipeline of new healthcare technologies for commercial and clinical success.
Professor Sebastien Ourselin 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.”
St George's enterprise and innovation
“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.”
- Dr Ambalika Batra-Penny, Head of Enterprise, Innovation and Contracts at St George’s, University of London -
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.”
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 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.
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