The Liverpool City Region Innovation Zone Programme has launched a new business support centre to commercialise businesses in health and life science research, backed by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
The Health Tech Business Incubation Centre (Health BIC) will be based at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Daresbury Laboratory thanks to £1.8 million of investment from the Combined Authority’s Innovation Zone Programme.
Open to organisations based in Liverpool City Region, the Health BIC is geared towards start-ups within health and life science projects. A tailored package of support will be built for each business worth up to £75,000. This will include non-dilutive funding, research and development (R&D) vouchers and entrepreneur-led business coaching. The overall aim is to help businesses realise commercial opportunities and drive further innovation with their health and life science research as a starting point.
STFC will work with a number of industry-leading partners to ensure that each business has the support and expertise that they require. As part of the Sci-Tech Daresbury joint venture, Daresbury Laboratory will link participants into opportunities to utilise facilities and expertise on the campus, including the laboratory’s world-class experts in a range of scientific fields.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) will provide knowledge and expertise to STFC to support companies that are likely to make a difference to clinical practice and population health.
Headquartered in the north-west, Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) is an independent innovation centre for drug discovery. It accelerates business growth, leading to improved outcomes for patients. MDC enables the community to reshape drug discovery by supporting innovators and connecting the life science sector. MDC will provide its expertise and skills to support Health BIC participants and signpost them to relevant partners and collaborators within the medicines discovery ecosystem.
The North West Health Cluster, led by STFC, promotes research, innovation and growth by bringing together organisations to enhance intelligence sharing, promote knowledge exchange and create collaboration capacity.
The funding marks one of the first of 21 life science projects set to receive backing from the Liverpool City Region Life Sciences Innovation Zone Programme, part of the government’s national Investment Zone Programme. In total, the projects are aiming to attract investment into the region up to £800 million and 8,000 jobs.
Paul Vernon, Executive Director for the Business and Innovation Directorate and Head of Daresbury Laboratory at STFC commented: “We are welcoming health and life science organisations from Liverpool City Region to take advantage of the rich package of support we will offer through the new Health BIC initiative. Our team of business incubation experts, led by Dr Amy Farrington, will tailor the support to suit their needs. Our 60-plus year heritage means that we have the facilities, the expertise and the partners to support early-stage businesses to reach their full potential. We hope to replicate that successes of our other business incubation schemes and drive more innovation in this vital sector and see more investment in the region.”
Businesses interested in the Health BIC should: be based in the Liverpool City Region; be less than five years old; and have a focus on health and life sciences. Enquiries should be sent to: [email protected].