Windmill Village Hotel, Coventry 22 September 2009

The theme of the second Forum for the West Midlands Medical Technologies Cluster, organised by Advantage West Midlands and MedilinkWM, was Collaboration - a driver for successful innovation.

Over 100 delegates representing the region's medtech businesses, design and consultancy services, health and social care providers, academic bodies and other industry stakeholders made their way to a venue whose remote location symbolised the need for all innovators to go the extra mile.

The day's presentations and discussions looked at the challenges facing medtech SMEs and the opportunities available through collaborating with other organisations, both in the private and in the public sector, to develop and commercialise new products.

Stairlift to heaven

Mike Lord, Managing Director of stairlift supplier Minivator Ltd, welcomed the delegates with an introduction to the medtech sector's local Cluster Opportunity Group (COG). There is a natural medtech cluster in the region that derives from its tradition of specialised light industry. The aim of the COG is to make the region internationally recognised for expertise in medical technology, delivering economic growth for business.

COGs have been proven one of the most efficient ways of supporting industry, with £7.6 return on every £1 invested. Mike explained the structure of the medtech COG, which has market focus groups looking at key therapy areas (such as intelligent healthcare and assisted living) and working groups looking at key business areas (such as international trade and procurement). MedilinkWM is the cluster's hub, supporting the medtech sector by lobbying and providing a range of services to member companies.

The key advantages to companies of supporting the COG, Mike argued, include gaining a better position in the market, developing a network of contacts, and building the status of the region's medtech sector. "If the West Midlands win, we all win." He described the importance to Minivator of collaborative working, including a joint venture with Help the Aged that has trebled its consumer business.

Mike Lord

Bring it on home

Tony Davis, CEO of MedilinkWM, addressed the theme of 'Innovation in difficult times'. He noted that the UK medtech industry's turnover grew by 5% last year, when many UK industries were hard hit by recession. The turnover of the West Midlands medtech sector rose by 49% in 2006-7. Increasing demand and the dynamic of innovation mean that medtech can help to fill the gap in Britain's GDP left by the breakdown of the financial sector.

Tony outlined the development of the Voices of Industry campaign (see our article on page xx). He also described the findings of MedilinkWM's Business Optimism Survey (July 2009), which showed that 75% of the region's medtech companies were optimistic about business growth in the sector over the next six months. Businesses were focusing on penetrating new markets, and as many SMEs were recruiting as were cutting staff.

Innovation, Tony concluded, is a key factor in the UK's prospect of economic recovery. For medtech to share in the hoped-for growth of the life science industries, innovation has to mean a creative and partnership-based approach to meeting the challenges faced by health systems worldwide.

Lean on me

The last three presentations dealt with aspects of collaboration. John Richards of Aston University Business Partnership Unit outlined the opportunities available to medtech SMEs for working in partnership with universities through schemes such as knowledge transfer partnerships and CASE awards.

Helen Almay of the Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) described the opportunities for medtech companies to work in partnership with the Ministry of Defence in developing products for the healthcare of military personnel. Helen explained that the CDE maintains an online portal for applications from medtech companies, and that it is keen to widen its supplier base and include SMEs. The phrase "14-day decision cycle" caused jaws to drop audibly.

David Gleaves, Chief Executive of MidTECH (the West Midlands Innovation Hub), spoke on collaborating with the NHS. He outlined the routes by which medtech SMEs can work with the NHS to develop new products and services. Echoing comments made by Lord Drayson, he emphasised the unique value of the NHS as a support base for product development and evaluation.

SHAs now have a legal duty to promote innovation, especially through adoption. Each region has a £1.9m Regional Innovation Fund that companies can access if they have an NHS partner. David emphasised that proposals from companies need to be well thought out in commercial terms.

 
David Gleaves

Come together

A series of round-table discussions addressed the commercial barriers faced by specific areas of medical technology (such as infection prevention, defence applications and human engineering) and concrete measures that could help industry to overcome these barriers.

Finally, Mike Lord drew together the threads of the day's presentations and activities to reach a conclusion with resonance for the medtech industry as a whole: "Working together beats struggling alone."