Coalesce Product Development – drug delivery devices

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Coalesce Product Development - drug delivery devices

Another star is twinkling brightly in Cambridge UK’s world-leading galaxy of product design consultancies – providing innovation for global science & technology market leaders.

Coalesce Product Development, headed up by former Sagentia man Dave Ahern, has expanded into significant office and laboratory space at Edinburgh House on the St John’s Innovation Park. The business incubated within St John’s Innovation Centre and has now agreed a five-year lease for space at Edinburgh House totalling 3,796 sq ft in a deal negotiated by Savills.

Cambridge has created a cluster of tech product design consultancies that even the US cannot match. In fact US, Asian and European clients beat a path to Cambridge’s door to turn raw IP into prototypes and marketable products.

Coalesce specialises in drug delivery devices. Engineer Ahern splits his time between working on projects and running the business and has assembled a strong team of engineers. His particular expertise is in respiratory drug delivery devices, built up while working on and managing dry powder inhaler projects for, amongst others, Dey Pharmaceuticals, Chiesi, Novartis and Vectura.

He began his career designing bespoke bomb-disposal robots and then mice and trackballs for high volume manufacture in the Far East. From Logitech, he moved into consultancy with Scientific Generics (now Sagentia) and his focus changed mainly to the medical sector and eventually to drug delivery devices.

Over the past two decades, both as an independent consultant and then at Coalesce Product Development, he has worked on a variety of medical devices, ranging from a gamma knife for Elekta, thoracic surgery equipment for Covedien, an arthroscopic surgical device for Gyrus Medical and a hand-held magnetic probe for sentinel node biopsy procedures for Endomag.

Science Group plc, Sagentia’s parent company, is meanwhile hiring experienced operator Andrew Diston from fellow Cambridge consultancy Medicom Innovation Partner. Diston was also formerly at Cambridge Consultants and has been appointed group science & technology director and a member of the group executive board with effect from September.

He is currently executive VP at Medicom, where he has had global responsibility for the commercial development of the Danish and Cambridge based business. Medicom specialises in designing and developing advanced drug delivery and connected health systems. Prior to Medicom, he spent most of his career at Cambridge Consultants – ultimately as head of the medical technology design and development business.

Science Group comprises four operating businesses, the original and largest being Sagentia, the Cambridge-based science and technology consulting company.

Recent acquisitions by the group have expanded operations into additional vertical markets providing new opportunities for growth. The role of group science & technology director engages the science, engineering and innovation capabilities of the operating businesses to open up new market opportunities.

Science Group has just posted interim results for the six months to the end of June and increased revenue to £17.7 million from £14.1m in the first half of 2015. The adjusted operating profit of £2.5m compared to £2.4m last time. The company reports net cash and freehold property assets of £31.3m, ahead of this stage last year.

Coalesce Product Development – drug delivery devices

• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: Edinburgh House on St John’s Innovation Park

Coalesce Product Development – drug delivery devices