The partnership with Health Enterprise East will provide GOSH staff with access to funding, resources and intellectual property management services to aid the development of medical innovations, through the Medtech Accelerator – a joint venture set up to help finance medical innovation projects at an early stage and fast track them to provide patient benefit in the NHS.
Commenting on the new partnership, Dr Anne Blackwood, CEO of Health Enterprise East, said: “Medical technology innovation saves lives, enhances the quality of life and prevents the recurrence of disease. We are delighted to be working with Great Ormond Street Hospital to ensure that ideas that have the potential to change patients’ lives are identified, supported and commercialised. So far, Health Enterprise East has delivered over 125 commercial licences for new innovations and cultivated four spin-out companies, and we are looking forward to adding to this as we branch out in to the paediatric sector.”
Emma Pendleton, Deputy Director of Research and Innovation at GOSH added:“Health Enterprise East joining GOSH as innovation partners will help us to identify new products and services that will enhance patient outcomes and improve the quality of care provided, benefitting not only the children treated at GOSH but patients worldwide. Putting the child first always is our guiding principle at GOSH and this partnership will ensure that innovations are considered from a child’s perspective from the outset.”
About Health Enterprise East www.hee.org.uk
Health Enterprise East (HEE) is a leading NHS innovation hub committed to improving healthcare through the provision of professional business and innovation management services. The HEE team works with NHS organisations nationally and Med Tech companies globally to support the development of innovative products and services which meet currently unmet healthcare needs. The company offers a broad range of tailored services from strategic analysis and market validation, to practical advice and insight.
Through its member services, HEE also ensures that pioneering innovations from staff across the NHS are identified, developed and commercialised for the benefit of patients, staff and society. Closely affiliated with founding member Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, HEE currently serves over 30 NHS organisations in the South of England. Trusts can opt to sign up as members of HEE and access a full range of skills and expertise.
About Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust www.gosh.nhs.uk/
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust is the country’s leading centre for treating sick children, with the widest range of specialists under one roof. With the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, we are the largest centre for paediatric research outside the US and play a key role in training children’s health specialists for the future.
About Medtech Accelerator Ltd www.medtechaccelerator.co.uk
The Medtech Accelerator Ltd has been set up to facilitate the early stage development of innovations in the broad area of medical technology (devices, diagnostics, software and eHealth) that meet unmet clinical needs within the NHS.
As a joint venture between Health Enterprise East, New Anglia and Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough (GCGP) Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), the Eastern Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) and Essex County Council, the Medtech Accelerator supports and finances projects at an early stage in order to maximise the potential for success in bringing new life enhancing technologies to patients. A total of £2million is available with individual awards to be made of between £15,000 and £125,000 to innovation projects that show the potential to create future spin-out companies primarily out of NHS organisations. Awards are aimed at supporting proof of concept work which might include IP protection, market analysis, prototype development and testing, clinical evaluation, regulatory support and pilot product production.