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THE IMPORTANCE OF LIFE SCIENCES IN THE WELSH ECONOMY


The  final for Boost Cymru - a showcase for new ideas in Welsh life sciences as well as a platform for developing products or services that could go to market within two years – was held in Cardiff earlier this week.

Entrants for this competition had to be based in Wales, have a relevant life sciences idea, and present that clearly in a brief video pitch to a panel of business experts.

The overall winner - Jellagen from Pembrokeshire - develops non-mamamlian collagen for medical research and regenerative medicine and will receive £50,000 made up of cash and in-kind professional support.

One of these five firms could be the next big thing in the life sciences market in Wales
The Boost Cymru competition was a timely reminder how the life sciences sector – which includes a range of businesses and organisations in the fields of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical technology, along with those with an agricultural, botanical, environmental and veterinary focus - is going from strength to strength in Wales.

In fact, there are an estimated 350 life sciences companies based here with an overall industry turnover of around £2bn and around 11,000 employees.

Crucially, there is also a pipeline of potential future talent with eight universities having life sciences expertise and around 12,000 students undertaking studies in the disciplines that contribute to the sector.


Not surprisingly, the Welsh Government has been active with support via its £100m Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund managed by Sir Chris Evans’ Arthurian Life Sciences organisation.

This invests not only in life sciences and related medical, pharmaceutical and healthcare companies based in Wales but also in companies from across the UK, Europe and the rest of the world where such investment will bring meaningful developmental and economic benefit to Wales.

In addition to government support, the private sector has also seen the potential in backing new businesses. For example, GE Healthcare has set up an innovation village (which includes laboratories and incubator space) at its Cardiff base to help develop businesses and new ideas.

As a result, firms in the sector will now be able to take advantage of advice from GE Healthcare to turn ideas into products and then market these through its global networks.

But perhaps the most important recent development for the sector has been the creation of Life Sciences Hub Wales in Cardiff to support and showcase the diverse range of expertise Wales has to offer in the life sciences field

Under the founding chairmanship of the late Professor Chris McGuigan of Cardiff University, it brought together for the first time a total of 110 academic, business, clinical, government, professional services and funding organisations to work in partnership to create commercial opportunities.

It currently has 5,000 unique visitors each year and holds around 1,500 meetings and events annually.

Of course, there are still a number of challenges going forward despite this growing support ecosystem for the life sciences sector in Wales.

First of all, whilst it is clear that Wales can benefit enormously from its growth in the future in terms of both wealth and health, there still needs to be more joined-up thinking especially in ensuring that life sciences are marketed effectively in the future.

There are also great opportunities for innovation and development even though there are issues in how, in a reducing public sector funding environment, it keeps pace with new developments such as precision medicine, cell therapies and new treatment.

The good news is that companies from outside Wales are actively looking at the NHS in Wales as a potential region to partner for innovative trials and developments including supporting ‘big data’ health initiatives, an area that will grow exponentially over the next few years.

Despite developments such as the life sciences fund and the innovation village at GE Healthcare, more still needs to be done to encourage more entrepreneurship within the field although there are some great examples across the sector that are growing quickly.

For example, at the recent Wales Start-Up awards, the finalists included Cotton Mouton Diagnostics of Pontypool, a start-up company focused on developing rapid, robust bio-detection systems that will transform the diagnosis of sepsis.

Go2GP of Cardiff, an app developer that gives users the full experience they would get from a GP visit from a smartphone.

And Pontus Research of Hirwaun, which has developed innovative state-of-the-art research systems which allow it to offer high quality R&D services in the area of aquaculture.

The Life Sciences start-up of the year was the incredible Proton Partners International of Cardiff, which is bringing proton beam therapy to the UK to improve the provision of cancer treatment and transform patient care and is set to become a serious global player in this space over the next few years.

So these are exciting times for the life sciences sector with examples of great companies being started, specific financial and business support from the private and public sectors and real opportunities to grow its economic substantially over the next few years.

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