Life Sciences joins Business Festival line up with unique openings for medical businesses
Life Sciences is joining the sport and health sector in this year’s Leicester Business Festival (29 October to 9 November) to bring some particularly exciting opportunities for Life Sciences businesses.
Life Sciences is rapidly developing in prominence within Leicestershire - already accounting for £150 million in GVA and employing 3,600 people across 130 businesses. Government has tipped the midlands region as being the top area for growth of Life Sciences and it is looking to Leicestershire to play a significant part in the delivering its Life Sciences Industrial Strategy.
Due to it being a key priority and strength locally, it has made a great addition to the Business Festival with some incredibly exciting events adding to the programme.
Life Sciences incorporates biological innovation, medical technologies, sport science development, biochemistry and pharmaceutical research.
Leicester is already globally recognised for leading the field in genetics and the discovery of DNA fingerprinting as well as vital advances in fighting heart disease, cancer, respiratory diseases and diabetes, and developments in forensic psychology, at the University of Leicester.
Charnwood Campus near Loughborough (shown right) - designated the UK’s first ‘Life Sciences Opportunities Zone’, also offers world-class laboratories and specialist manufacturing facilities. Top bioscience, pharmaceutical, medical companies such as Almac, 3M and ARM Holdings have already moved in.
Particularly exciting opportunities are arising for Life Sciences businesses through the Festival.
There is an exceptional chance for medical businessesto develop their innovative products or services in partnership with the NHS and University of Leicester, on 8 November. This includes everything from prototypes, testing and clinical trials, to CE marking, clinician and patient input and is a completely unique and opportune route to market for any medical business.
Charnwood Campus is also opening its doors for businesses and individuals to learn about future projects offering opportunities for discovery and innovation, business support and funding opportunities currently available from Innovate UK, Minerva and the AHSN Network in a 'Catalysing Life Science Business' event on 30 October.
Dr Riddhi Shukla (pictured left), Business Development Manager at College of Life Sciences, University of Leicester is the Business Festival sector lead for Life Sciences. She said, "The healthcare market is growing with global health care spending estimated to grow at 4.2% per year from 2015 and is expected to exceed $8.7 trillion by 2020.
Similarly, sales in Medical Technology - which is any technology used to save and preserve lives, such as body scanners, heart valves, pacemakers and replacement joints, are expected to reach around $530 billion by 2022.
“The wider Midlands region has the highest proportion of life sciences jobs in the core medical technologies sector in the UK. Leicestershire’s life sciences sector is underpinned by our broad and deep clinical and university base with three top class Universities. The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) is one of the biggest and busiest NHS Trusts in the country and is involved in a wealth of ground-breaking research and clinical trials projects and the Leicester Biomedical Research Centre and Leicester Precision Medicine Institute at the University of Leicester are continuously working with industry partners to develop new and innovative health products.
“Charnwood Campus also provides a huge opportunity for inward investment and for businesses to access the region’s research skills and expertise in the soon to be established Leicester Life Science Accelerator.
“The Leicester Business Festival events will help to facilitate networking within the life sciences community in Leicester and Leicestershire to develop growth of this very important sector by cohesively harnessing industry, academic and NHS clinical expertise.”
Business Festival events are largely free to attend however, tickets must be booked in advance either through the website www.leicesterbusinessfestival.com or via the new LBF app – free to download from Google Play or the Apple store.
Along with headline partners, Leicester Castle Business School, the 2018 Festival has the support of well-known business organisations including East Midlands Chamber; LLEP Business Gateway; East Midlands Airport; Brewin Dolphin; University of Leicester School of Business; Highcross Leicester; Shakespeare Martineau; and the FSB.
Other supporters include Everards Brewery; De Montfort University; Pattersons Commercial Law; Growth Partners PLC and the Institute of Directors, as well as official app partner Infonote; AV media partner, The Presentation Group; Coffee partner, 200 degrees; and media partners, Cross Productions and Capital Radio.
For more information, visit www.leicesterbusinessfestival.com, contact hello@leicesterbusinessfestival.com or call 0116 464 5995.
