Healthcare technologies

Yorkshire & Humber is at the forefront of the UK’s latest advances in healthcare, making it one of the most important regions for the healthcare technology industry, and one of the fastest-growing nationally.

We have one of the UK’s highest concentrations of medical device companies, superb specialist skills (especially in surgical instrumentation, orthopaedics and advanced wound-care), exceptional access to clinical trials, pioneering R&D, and Europe’s largest teaching hospital.

Our region has a real opportunity to make the most of the collaboration potential and resources held within businesses, the NHS and our universities. Creating an environment where businesses can innovate and increase their competitive advantage will bring real economic benefits to the whole region. It will help to create high levels of added value in engineering, biological research and manufacturing, as well as in other rapidly developing areas such as ICT.  

Our healthcare technologies strategic sector champion

Yorkshire Forward directly employs a ‘strategic sector champion’ for healthcare technologies—an experienced industrialist who identifies opportunities for innovation through collaboration, and brokers relationships between businesses and the science base.

What’s covered by ‘healthcare technologies’?

• The pharmaceutical industry and related areas, such as nutraceuticals (healthcare supplements, functional foods and vitamin & mineral supplements) and medical biotechnology
• medical devices (including surgical instruments, implantable devices, medical and assistive equipment, medical consumables, prosthetics and orthotics).

Which businesses are already here?

Over 300 healthcare technology businesses operate out of the region, from established companies like Smith & Nephew, Johnson & Johnson DePuy, Symmetry Thornton, B Braun Medical UK, Sandvik, Reckitt Benkiser, Covance and Seven Seas to smaller university spin-outs such as Syntopix and Avacta.

What kind of regional expertise is there?

• The region has 3 medical schools and strong academic research in medical engineering, tissue engineering and other related skills (many rated 5 or 5* for research - the top grade awarded)
• We have a large number of specialist research units and institutes with world-renowned expertise
• NHS International and a Department of Health headquarters are based here
• We have a unique innovation interface, with 5 relevant Centres of Industrial Collaboration (CICs)
• We have 4 teaching-hospital NHS trusts and 5 regional BUPA hospitals, and Europe’s largest teaching hospital (annual budget £540m)
• Exceptional access to clinical trials
• Business accommodation centres:
  • Leeds Innovation Centre 
  • Sheffield Bioincubator 
  • Bradford Bioscience Business Incubator
    
  • York Bio Centre.

What is Yorkshire Forward doing for the sector?

Yorkshire Forward supports a variety of organisations which promote the  interests of this priority sector:

• We’ve invested in CPD4 Health Innovation, a one-stop shop for innovative and relevant continuing professional development (CPD) activities across the Yorkshire & Humber region.
• Bioscience YES Yorkshire & Humber is an innovative competition which raises awareness of the commercialisation of bioscience ideas among postgraduate students/postdoctoral scientists working at universities in the region's unThe competition is promoted and funded by Yorkshire Forward and aims to encourage an entrepreneurial culture in the bioscience research community for the benefit of the regional and national economy.
• The Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship (YEF) helps university researchers to set up a business based on their research. Building on the highly successful Bioscience Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship scheme launched in 2004, this new initiative from Yorkshire Forward delivers practical support for commercialising ideas and research findings from the region's universities.

Contact

If you’d like to find out more about these issues, contact one of our team:

Neil Sullivan
Email. (neil.sullivan@yorkshire-forward.com)
Tel. 07906667354

Or call

Andrea Scully - 01133949909
Lucy Fountain - 01133949627