Special Report - Healthcare & Life Sciences

Dec 11 2006 By Dr Ian Robson, The Journal

Helping improve the health of the nation

Established in 2002, Hart Biologicals is a privately-owned company specialising in the manufacture and supply of clinical diagnostic reagents and instruments to hospital pathology laboratories, GP surgeries, pharmacies and veterinary surgeries.

Additionally, Hart Biologicals is using the expertise available within the company to offer a contract manufacturing service for other organisations around the world.

The company, which is based in Hartlepool, has grown year on year since 2002 and is now working towards ISO 13485: 2003 accreditation as well as Investors in People.

The company's products are aimed at highly specialised areas of medical care and treatment:

* The provision of instrumentation, software and reagents to enable hospitals, GP surgeries and pharmacies to take complete control of the dosing and management of patients taking anticoagulant drugs, such as warfarin, in both hospital and community environments.

* Providing cardiac and vascular surgeons with the ability to monitor the effectiveness of drugs (antiplatelet agents) used in cardiac bypass surgery and other surgical procedures to enable the appropriate use of the drugs, and to monitor the patients' return to normal clotting activity post surgery through the use of a simple blood test made within the operating theatre or back in the laboratory.

* Diagnosis of blood clotting disorders such as haemophilia and von Willebrands disease require specialised instrumentation and reagents that are supplied by Hart Biologicals to hospital haematology laboratories around the world.

* The manufacture of specialised quality control products for national quality assessment scheme use. These products are used as an independent assessment of the performance of individual laboratories to make sure the results they generate on patient blood tests are accurate and in line with other laboratories in the country. To date, products have been supplied to organisations in the UK, Italy, Ireland and Holland.

The success of Hart Biologicals in the last four years has resulted in the company receiving a number of business awards in the Tees Valley and North-East area.

• Contact Hart Biologicals for more information on the products and services it can offer for health service providers and practitioners in the North-East: Hart Biologicals Ltd, Units 13-15 Newburn Bridge Industrial Estate, Mainsforth Terrace, Hartlepool, TS25 1TZ, United Kingdom. Tel: +44 (0) 1429 271100, fax: +44 (0) 1429 277085, email: info@hartbio.com , website: www.hartbio.com

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Exciting life sciences start-ups given opportunity to grow

Cels, the Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences, has announced the opening of a new, state-of-the-art business incubator suite specifically for life sciences companies in North East England.

The facility, named CELS at Newcastle and situated within Newcastle University's Medical Faculty, has been refurbished in a £900,000 project funded by regional development agency One NorthEast and now contains a range of cutting edge technology and equipment.

The first of its kind in North East England, the unit was fully occupied from opening and includes four early-stage life sciences businesses, identified by CELS as having significant commercial potential. The four businesses; BioTransformations, Selective Antibodies, Genesis Genomics and HB Innovations, are pioneering techniques in areas such as roadside drug testing and targeted cancer therapies. CELS manage the facility to successfully guide companies through their early stages of development.

Kenny Lang, Director of Business Incubation at CELS, said, "Business incubation facilities for life sciences companies such as CELS at Newcastle are just one of the ways in which CELS is driving the region's healthcare economy; aiding knowledge transfer and helping to convert scientific ideas from North East England's top universities into commercial opportunities."

CELS will provide ongoing support and guidance to the businesses in areas ranging from networking and procurement best practice to information on the various grants available and how to gain investor funding. CELS will also help to facilitate meetings with other academic and commercial professionals within the industry to aid knowledge and skills transfer through the CELS Healthcare Network, the region's business support network for healthcare and life sciences companies.

Business incubator facilities are an increasingly popular method of effectively nurturing innovation, allowing start-up businesses to flourish.

Once established, CELS continues to help companies after they out-grow the incubator to assist in their ongoing development. This natural progression allows further businesses to benefit from the facilities and support being offered, ensuring a constant and diverse flow of innovative enterprise.

Professor Michael Whitaker, Dean of Development at the Medical Faculty, who championed the incubator unit at the university, said: "It is very exciting to see CELS at Newcastle open. To have filled the entire facility on day one of its opening is a testament to the quality and need for this business incubator. It also goes to show that in terms of life sciences innovation, the North East is becoming a hive of activity."

The incubator suite includes four separate life sciences laboratories with write-up facilities, a communal area with hot-desks, a boardroom and break-out space.

One NorthEast's Healthcare Pillar Manager Dr Caroline Gladwell adds: "Incorporating industry within an academic environment will be a key component in Newcastle's Science City. CELS at Newcastle is an important step in ensuring that North East England has quality facilities available to house new business ventures. This investment in infrastructure adds a vital next layer to previous investments in facilitating knowledge transfer and the creation of new spin-outs."

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A tonic for enterprising ideas

Developing a new healthcare device? Got an idea for a product? Need some help with design? If so, read on...

The Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences (CELS) has formed a unique collaboration with Northumbria University. The Integrated Services Training and Products or Instep initiative offers an integrated design service to small to medium-sized businesses developing products and services for the health sector.

Instep is steered by CELS and backed with £1.25m from One NorthEast and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It brings together industrial design expertise from Northumbria University and market intelligence from CELS to help SMEs differentiate their products in an increasingly competitive healthcare market.

Director of markets and technologies at CELS Dr Keith Morris said: "Instep plays a crucial role in offering a managed development path for healthcare product and device ideas. Companies benefit from commercial expertise, financial support to cover development costs and a cross-functional team of researchers, designers, engineers and healthcare professionals, all with proven collaborative experience.

"CELS works with companies to produce robust business plans which Instep can deliver. This is a unique opportunity for North-East companies and I urge them to contact CELS as soon as possible. The door is also open to businesses that are looking to diversify into lucrative healthcare markets. We consider each application on its individual merits."

Instep offers support to a wide range of healthcare products and services, ranging from hand-held diagnostic devices and consumer products to health information management systems.

Instep combines the work of three schools at Northumbria University, the School of Design, School of Health Community and Education Studies and the School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences, providing an array of expertise in areas such as concept research and design, prototype development, risk assessment and end-user testing.

• CELS is seeking clients for the Instep initiative. To find out more, please contact CELS on (0191) 211-2626.

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UK Haptics Ltd

UK Haptics is a pioneering North company which specialises in developing medical training products using virtual reality technology.

Software of the company, based at Rothbury in Northumberland, simulates a variety of medical procedures, focusing on needle insertion and cannulation.

Users wearing 3D glasses manipulate a "haptic pen" and arm that provides real physical feedback, giving the sensation of true patient interaction but in a virtual environment, where training can be given and performance assessed.

CELS Instep worked with UK Haptics to develop a range of working prototype adaptors for use with the 3D arm and delivered a physical prototype device in just six weeks, enabling the company to embark on distribution negotiations with international partners and prospective clients.

UK Haptics CEO Gary Todd said: "The Instep initiative allowed us to make tangible a vital part of our device and really fast-tracked the development of this product.

"The expertise within Instep gives an extra level of advice and expertise that straightforward financial support does not."

BioTransformations Ltd

Newcastle hi-tech firm BioTransformations Ltd is developing a powerful specialist technology for treating cancer, invented and developed in the North-East.

Tumours are targeted using an antibody-based technology which is then selectively and accurately activated, at the tumour site, by illumination.

This selectively kills cancer cells, leaving normal tissue unaffected and triggers the body's curing mechanisms.

The dramatic impact that this treatment can have on a range of cancer types was captured and visualised by a high-impact, high-definition 3D animated video produced by an Instep team at Northumbria University within a week of the commission being placed.

Founder of BioTransformations Prof Colin Self was delighted: "The video presents the power of our new cancer-killing technology superbly. Considering its low cost to us and speed at which it was produced we didn't expect Pixar - but we certainly got it! It should be invaluable in the current round of presentations we are making to prospective international customers and investors."

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Staff go the extra mile

As a major provider of healthcare in the North-East, employing more than 6,000 people, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust plays a major role in the economy of the region. The trust's reputation for clinical excellence and a sound financial track record was reinforced this year when it was awarded foundation status, placing it firmly in the top-performing healthcare organisations in the country.

With a budget of £250m, the trust runs three district general hospitals and seven community hospitals, serving a population of more than half a million people, from the Scottish border to North Tyneside and to Haltwhistle in the west.

Some of the older community hospitals are now under review and will either be refurbished or rebuilt fit for the 21st Century. The new Rothbury hospital was handed over last October and plans are in development for Berwick and Morpeth.

All this brings jobs for the construction industry.

And with so many staff and patients coming to the hospitals each year, the procurement arm of the trust is kept busy finding supplies and equipment that provide good value for money.

Our staff have won national acclaim for some of the services on offer to patients:

* The midwifery-led Special Care Baby Unit at Wansbeck General Hospital has won the Royal College of Midwives Award for its outstanding contribution to neo-natal care.

* The multi-disciplinary respiratory team won a Department of Health Award for Chronic Disease Management in the 2004 national Health and Social Care Awards.

* The diabetes service has just been shortlisted by the Health Service Journal in the Patient Centred Care category for its Dafne project, which enables people with insulin dependent diabetes to adjust their own medication so they can eat what they like, when they like.

* Our laparoscopic surgeons were finalists in the Hospital Doctor's Surgical Team of the Year award.

* The midwifery-led Special Care Baby Unit at Wansbeck General Hospital has been nominated by the Royal College of Midwives for its outstanding contribution to neo-natal care.

A foundation stone has just been laid by rugby player Jonny Wilkinson to mark the start of phase three of Hexham General Hospital. This will include a new Laporoscopic Institute that will build on the teaching success of our surgeons.

Nursing staff in Berwick have received accolades for their work with Northumbria University in a programme designed to stimulate older patients who have to spend long periods in hospital.

All over the trust there are success stories, our nurses going the extra mile, developing skills that will help people in rural areas. Nurse practitioners on the wards and in emergency care are now doing some of the work traditionally done by doctors in most hospitals.

Foundation status has given the trust the freedom to look at the services it is delivering and how it can bring even more services to people in rural areas.

To do that Northumbria is relying on the 11,000 members and 69 governors who have volunteered to help steer the trust in the coming years.

Chief executive Jim Mackey is delighted local people are now having a say in the services they want in their areas and how they are delivered.

"It is important that our Foundation members have a say in the shaping of our services. Our Foundation Governors are taking an active role in keeping the membership up to date with information about our services and addressing issues that affect the community.

This is just the kind of input we need from local people and we intend to build on our membership even more to make sure we are hitting the mark with the services we offer the public.

"We already have some of the best staff in the country working for us. They work hard to give our patients good quality care. The number of tribute letters we receive and satisfaction surveys are testament to that.

But we are never complacent. Our patients remain our top priority and we are committed to providing good quality healthcare in bright modern environments.

"I see Northumbria as one of the main players in the economy of the region and the freedom we have been given to manage our own affairs gives us the opportunity to build on our successes.

"With the help of our staff and input from our membership we are confident that Northumbria will go on to even greater things."

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Did you know...

* Largest orthopaedic department in the North East

* Over 504,000 patient attendances in 2005/2006

* state of the art MRI and CT scanners at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham

* most patients (81%) wait less than 6 weeks for a general surgery outpatient appointment

* most patients (72%) wait less than 8 weeks for admission for general surgery and gynaecology

* most patients (76%) wait less than 6 weeks for a first gynaecology outpatient appointment

* more than 58,000 procedures a year

* Nurse led chemotherapy service at Hexham will be rolled out to Berwick Infirmary next year

* Berwick Infirmary has a new respiratory outpatient service

* Stroke Northumbria is one of only six national stroke beacon sites

Hexham General Hospital - the facts

* Since 1999 there has been a steady increase in patients attending Hexham General Hospital

* Outpatient attendances have increased by 36% to 11,222

* Day case surgery has increased by 49% to 5,652

* Emergency Admissions have increased by 10% to 5,148

* Accident & Emergency attendances up by 42% to 17,098

* Only one per cent of accident and emergency patients are transferred to other hospitals in the Trust - one patient every other day - 167 patients

* Relatives and friends of patients transferred from Hexham are offered free return transport to sister hospitals