New partnership set to speed the process from medical discovery to labs, trials and manufacture – right through to patient use
The latest landmark scheme in the region’s devolution in health and social care launches today.
Health Innovation Manchester promise to speed up the discovery, development and delivery of innovative solutions to help improve the health of the almost three million people in Greater Manchester, and beyond.
The new approach builds on the existing expertise and assets in the area to address a nationwide issue of delays between research innovation and health and economic benefits being realised on the ground.
It will harness the partner organisations’ collective expertise to develop the infrastructure needed for clinical trials and health informatics.
The partnerships aims and ambitions are enshrined in a Memorandum of Understanding which will be signed today by key partners from across the system including Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Greater Manchester Academic Health Science Network, the Clinical Research Network, Manchester Science Partnerships and Manchester Growth Company.
Health priorities in Greater Manchester include cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, drug and alcohol misuse and the high prevalence of obesity among adults and children.
Clive Morris, Director of Health Innovation Manchester, said: “Greater Manchester already benefits from a strong history of research and innovation in health. It is an important life sciences cluster and an eco-system with significant growth potential.
“However, we know that it can take many years for a new innovation to reach routine adoption across the NHS, and that we don’t leverage our skills and capabilities across the whole of the region and across different diseases.
“Our ambition is to solve this by harnessing and building on the collective expertise we have, and working together to develop the very best approaches to address the health needs of Greater Manchester. By working collectively across healthcare providers, academia and industry – more closely than ever before – we can see the potential to accelerate the discovery and development of new innovations and transform the health of our population.”
Leader of Manchester. council Sir Richard Leese, who also leads on growth for GMCA, said: “All these developments are based on firm foundations. Greater Manchester is already recognised as being in the top three UK life science clusters with almost 11,500 people working in pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical technology businesses.
“World-class strengths include a strong research-led university base, six major teaching hospitals, a successful record of clinical trials, rich history of innovation and a wide industrial base. It also has the only accredited Academic Health Science Centre in the UK outside the South East, which is a powerful platform to widen Greater Manchester’s business base and growth.”
