Spotlight
BioWales - A Great Success
BioWales 2011 drew to a close this week after another highly successful two day showcase for biosciences in Wales to a distinguished commercial and academic audience of some 400 delegates - promoting breakthroughs in new technologies, gaining insights into the latest trends and developments and making valuable connections.
Opening the day’s conference, Deputy Minister for Science, Innovation and Skills, Lesley Griffiths AM said the event “reflected the dynamic lifesciences industry in Wales that employs over 15,000 people and contributes more than £1.3bn to the Welsh economy each year.” The impressive line-up of speakers this year included Wales’ Chief Scientific Adviser Prof. John Harries, who claimed there was “true world class work taking place in Wales where health and life sciences are seen as a great strength.”
Professor Paul Davis, Chief Scientific Officer of Mologic, is one of the scientists who founded Unipath, maker of the Clearblue pregnancy test, and his presentation covered The Birth of the Modern Pregnancy Test and diagnostic technology. He said: “Many of the most relevant sustaining technologies and advances are in Wales, such as Ig-Innovations sheep antibody capability and BBI’s immunodiagnostic development capability in Cardiff, in addition to various technologies being developed in the Welsh universities, where there are numerous opportunities for partnership. The Welsh Assembly Government is good at promoting and supporting such collaborations.
“With an increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and conditions there has never been such an interest in diagnostic tests to be run in the home by patients and at the point of care to improve quality of life and reduce costs. Diseases or conditions such as diabetes, asthma and inflammatory lung diseases that can be controlled but not cured impact greatly on patients, carers and health care systems. There is enormous benefit to be gained from making better use, modification or re-positioning of current diagnostic technologies, to enable their practical use in the home.
Disease monitoring tests must be sure to engage and motivate the patient on an ongoing basis, and provide results that enable the appropriate self-management action to be taken. This is a replay of the consumer pregnancy test, in which the technology had to be appealing and simple enough to win sales, while the implications of the results were always unambiguous! The diagnostics industry needs to come up with not only improved diagnostic technology, but also integrated health management systems that use the technology to deliver real benefits to patients and health care providers.”
In addition to Diagnosing Success with speakers such as Huw Summers, Professor of Nanotechnology for Health, Swansea University, the conference also covered the themes of Digital Health, with a presentation by David Ford, Head of the e-health Industries Innovation Centre in Swansea which has made Wales a pioneer in e-health support, and Clinical Engagement, where speakers included Mirella Marlow from NICE..
There was also the annual Future Watch, throwing a spotlight on new technologies and commercial ventures in Welsh life sciences, and Securing Investment, outlining venture capital and financial support in life sciences. The event also featured a busy programme of Workshops, an exhibition of over 40 companies and institutions, and a biopartnering event that contained over 450 structured meetings.
BioWales was a Welsh Assembly Government event programmed by MediWales and produced by Orchard Media and Events Group.
The life sciences in Wales are represented by 330 companies,. The sector has grown in Wales by over 19% in the last three years, and there are world-class facilities and people operating in this country. Wales is home to the largest cluster of in-vitro diagnostic companies in the UK while Cardiff University’s Wound Healing Research Unit (WHRU) has the distinction of being the second largest specialist wound healing centre in the world. In the field of Medical Technology, Biomet’s largest European subsidiary is in Bridgend and Arjo Huntleigh, the largest manufacturer of foetal monitors in the UK, is based in Cardiff.