Now is the time to invest in medical technologies sector: an interview with Professor John Fisher

January 29, 2018

Orthopaedic Product News talks with Professor John Fisher, Director of MeDe Innovation, University of Leeds, about pioneering research in the fields of medical devices and regenerative medicine.

 
OPN: Recently you led the Leeds City Region audit, ‘Opportunities and Growth: Medical Technologies’ – could you tell us what the audit identified?
JF: We carried out an extensive review of science and innovation to map research and innovation strengths and identify areas of potential global competitive advantage in medical technologies across the Leeds City Region (sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) – through interviews, focus groups, surveys and analysis of data available.
The audit found that government, the research councils, industry and the NHS need to invest between £200 million and £250 million in the Leeds City Region’s medical technology sector over the next five years to enable it to exploit opportunities associated with the growth in the global health market, the convergence of technologies and digitally-enabled technologies producing new combination devices and interventions which are more precisely targeted to patient needs.
The Leeds City Region has a long association with the med tech sector – through the manufacture of medical devices and cutting-edge research at the region’s five universities.
There are around 250 businesses in the region specialising in med tech and another 200 digital and technology firms operating in the health field, and nearly a quarter of the UK’s digital health jobs are in the region.  8.9 per cent of med tech patents submitted by UK inventors have originated in the Leeds City Region.
Alongside the region’s universities and business base, there is a unique and influential wider health innovation ecosystem. It is home to four out of five NHS headquarters, 13 clinical commissioning groups and 12 NHS trusts, including one of the largest NHS Trusts in the country, the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
 
Read the full interview on the Orthopaedic Product News website.