North East Life Sciences Conference 2022 - View from headline sponsor AHSN NENC

Delegates and attendees at the North East Life Sciences Conference in Sunderland. Picture by Daniel Cole Photography

We took the opportunity to explore key issues such as the need for close links between NHS and industry, the importance of digital health, the focus on climate change and how the region supports businesses within the health and care sectors.

Dr Nicola Hutchinson, CEO of AHSN NENC, said, "The North East region is committed to the development of life sciences activity and is becoming one of the top places in the world to do business. In particular, our aspiration is to position the region as a leader in the development, evaluation, manufacturing and adoption of patient centred treatments, therapeutics and diagnostics.

The North East region is recognised as having the greatest healthcare inequalities of any region within England which has been further exacerbated by the pandemic. As a region, we are working collaboratively to reduce these disparities and raise the profile of the region by promoting our unique assets, cohesive partnerships and exploiting strategic relationships to drive innovations to improve population health and support the economy."

The event was chaired by Alix Mackay from the Life Sciences Marketing Academy. There were two key notes. The first was from Sam Allen, who set out her vision for creating a collaborative health and a care sector and for wanting the North East and North Cumbria to be the place that people from across the world come to see how we are transforming healthcare. While the other was by Steve Bagshaw who reflected on the tremendous achievements, acceleration of science and collaborative work throughout the COVID pandemic, and as we move closer to the 2030 vision.

The first panel session chaired by Ammar Mirza CBE included Dr Nicola Hutchinson from AHSN NENC, Justyna Mysliwy from Iksuda, Arun Harish from CPI, Becky Crow from the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative and Sam Allen from the ICB. The panel reflected on how far the North East has come and the health and care opportunities that lie ahead. The importance of skills and partnerships in the region was highlighted.

In the second session on Digital Healthcare, Dave Belshaw and Dr Sean Gill focused on the role of digital and health and life sciences and the redesign of patient pathways, examining the different stages of healthcare through the Innovation Pathway, the AHSN NENC’s vehicle for articulating the bespoke services that can be provided to NHS organisations and industry. Dr Sean Gill presented an overview on Real World Evaluation and why it’s important. The challenges facing health and care services are well documented. Innovation is central to addressing them.

We need to explore new ways of working based on core needs and priorities. More of the same is not an option. We must encourage innovation. However, innovation also needs evaluation. Without evaluative evidence, all we have is advocates and champions. Without evidence, we don’t know whether innovation should be scaled up and spread. All too often, innovation proceeds without the support and discipline of evaluation. Sean has worked on developing an AHSN NENC Evaluation Toolkit to guide innovators through the process of planning an evaluation.

The Digital Processes and Manufacturing panel discussion focused on digital processes when scaling and manufacturing and digital diagnostics and included David Berry from CPI, Adeel Aslam from Bouygues E&S, Tim Hargreaves from Marks and Clerk and Mark Corbett from the National Horizons Centre.

While the Creating the UK’s Greenest Region by 2030 panel discussion reflected on the environmental impacts of Life Sciences businesses and what has to be done to keep growing the sector and ultimately save the planet.

The final session was a Scientific Innovation Showcase which demonstrated the innovation across the North East, and provided a platform for some of the SMEs in the region, prioritising the key themes and areas of expertise that the event identified. There were pitches from Beetroot Health, Aelius Biotech, Rapid Fluidics, Magnitude Biosciences and AMLo Biosciences.