The NHS, nursing a £139.3 billion budget this year, has embraced transformative keyhole surgery technology from Cambridge unicorn CMR Surgical.

Hospitals in Edinburgh and Milton Keynes have become the first in the UK to perform operations using CMR’s Versius robotics arm.

The latest generation Versius has initially been used to perform a range of colorectal surgeries, helping to treat patients with serious bowel disease or bowel cancer. 

The first NHS hospital to use Versius was The Western General Hospital in Edinburgh (one of four hospitals in the NHS Lothian Health Board), followed by Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Trust in Buckinghamshire. 

They are the first to use Versius in Europe; however, further NHS hospitals are scheduled to introduce the system in 2020. These include both large teaching hospitals and smaller local centres and could open the door to a much wider use of robotic MAS than seen to date. 

As a portable system, Versius is designed to help increase minimal access procedures, offering the potential for better patient outcomes, NHS savings and more bed space.

Business Weekly revealed last May that NHS chair Lord David Prior promised to champion the technology across UK hospitals.

Fired up CMR is targeting a highly lucrative international market; global annual revenues for robot-assisted MAS are approximately $4bn currently but are anticipated to reach $20bn by 2025.

MAS – also referred to as keyhole or laparoscopic surgery – is associated with a number of potential benefits compared to open surgery, including the ability to reduce rates of surgical site infections, pain and scarring.

It is estimated that only one-third of procedures that could be performed laparoscopically in the UK are. Across Europe currently only 13 per cent of hysterectomy procedures are conducted laparoscopically. In addition, 800,000 cases of surgical site infection across all surgical procedures have been recorded, costing health systems millions.

MAS is also linked to faster recovery in hospital, with fewer post-operative bed days required for recovery.

A 2018 report by the Office of Health Economics found that a shift to MAS led to a reduction in the average length of stays for gynaecology patients from 5.5 days to just 1.5 days in 95 per cent of cases.

Versius has been carefully designed to enhance how surgeons perform MAS procedures including for major gynaecological and colorectal surgery. Three independent arms, which replicate those of a human in size and shape, are coupled with 3D visualisation and unique instrument controls that allow the surgeon to mimic their own human movement, enabling precise surgeries while also making long procedures less strenuous. 

As part of the introduction of Versius, a clinical registry has been established to provide a database of patient outcomes information to support patient safety, as well as technical data that can support assisted learning and help optimise Versius’ use in the future.  

Biomimicking the human arm, Versius allows surgeons the freedom of port placement, but with the benefits of small fully-wristed instruments. With 3D HD vision, easy-to adopt instrument control and a choice of ergonomic working positions, the new open surgeon console has the potential to reduce stress and fatigue and extend the careers of surgeons.

CMR Surgical provides a robust training programme to the full surgical team as part of its offering. This comprises of a bespoke online portal; Versius trainer for surgeons; residential training and peer to peer support.

Mark Slack, chief medical officer at CMR Surgical, said: “We set out to design a system that was versatile, portable and cost-effective and it is immensely rewarding to see it now being used in the NHS – one of the most thorough and clinically rigorous health systems in the world.” 

Inotec AMD, a Cambridge medtech business that has developed a device to heal and treat complex chronic wounds, has secured £7 million in a funding round led by Praetura Ventures.

The Cambridge Research Park business has developed Natrox, a cutting-edge product that uses pure humidified oxygen to treat a range of chronic wounds, from diabetic and venous ulcers to non-healing surgical wounds.

Following several successful clinical trials, Inotec AMD is looking to expand its foothold in the US, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. 

The business currently provides products to the NHS and health providers in key markets including the US, Italy, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. UK-based Praetura Ventures has invested £2.75m in the latest round. 

Existing investor Amadeus Capital Partners, Puhua Capital, Boundary Capital and a group of high-net-worth angel investors joined Praetura.

Inotec AMD is headed up by CEO Craig Kennedy and chairman Dr Adrian Patron. Headquartered in Cambridge, the business also has a US office in North Carolina.

The funding will enable Inotec AMD to build on its recent growth and target new international markets. Dr Andy Round, director and life sciences specialist at Praetura Ventures, will join Inotec AMD’s board.

Inotec AMD is the third life sciences business in Praetura Ventures’ portfolio, following investments in Ostara Biomedical, a biotechnology development company focused on mammalian reproductive biology; and Liverpool ChiroChem, a specialist business that develops the chemical building blocks for use in biopharmaceutical drug design and development.

Craig Kennedy said: “The UK alone spends £3.1 billion treating chronic wounds each year, while the US spends $50bn. Add to this the significant escalation in costs, not to mention the considerable distress to patients and families if the only course of treatment for non-healing wounds is amputation. It’s clear that there’s a real need for innovation and new solutions in this area.

“We’re proud to have developed a product with the potential to revolutionise wound care and significantly minimise pain and suffering for millions of patients worldwide. Our next step is to continue our momentum and expand into new territories.”

The global wound care market continues to grow rapidly, with a recent report by market research company MarketsandMarkets predicting it will be worth $24.8bn by 2024, up from $19.8bn this year.

UK Big Biotech business AstraZeneca, rooted in Cambridge, has invested £100 million into its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Sydney, Australia to help Britain boost trade with global markets outside the EU.

AZ’s commitment was trumpeted by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab who said UK manufacturing and innovation would enable the trade relationship with Australia to further gather pace.

Raab welcomed the Cambridge-based company’s commitment to the Oz facility. The investment will go towards advanced digital technologies that are enhancing the way the company manufactures and delivers medicines to patients.

AstraZeneca supports 38,400 jobs in the UK and has fostered a strong base in Australia thanks, says Raab, to Britain’s attractiveness to businesses and investors there.

The UK-Australia trade relationship is already worth more than £17 billion and Raab believes this is set to increase post-Brexit.

The Foreign Secretary said: “I’m thrilled to have been able to see first-hand how British talent and innovation have enabled Cambridge-based AstraZeneca to announce £100 million investment into its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that will focus on sustainable healthcare which will ultimately benefit people around the world.

“This is another example of the great opportunities presented by flourishing UK-Australian trade and blossoming business links between our countries.”

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, said the Sydney investment would create fresh jobs while the new technology being harnessed would boost AZ’s push to do more for global sufferers of cancer and other diseases.

He said: “As an innovative UK-headquartered life sciences company, AstraZeneca is pleased to be making this important investment in Australia in some of the newest and most high-tech medicines manufacturing and production facilities in our global network.

“This investment will create new skilled jobs, enhance our international outlook and help us to go further for the patients that rely on our medicines around the world.”

AstraZeneca delivered a year of strong revenue growth supported by the launch of new medicines and further good progress on its pipeline with several approvals and data readouts, Pascal Soriot revealed.

He said these trends were set to continue in 2020, accompanied by growth in earnings and cash. In maintaining its focus on patients and science, the company remains on track to deliver its strategic ambitions, the CEO said.

Full-year product sales growth of 12 per cent to $23.565 billion included fourth-quarter sales of $6.250bn (+eight per cent). All three therapy areas and every sales region grew at CER in the quarter and over the full year. 

Sales of new medicines increased 59 per cent to $9.906bn, including new-medicine growth in emerging markets of 75 per cent to $1.865bn. 

New medicines represented 42 per cent of total product sales compared to 30 per cent in 2018. Chief among therapy areas oncology sales were up 44 per cent to $8.667bn.

Chinese, US and Japanese sales all increased while those in Europe declined.

Soriot said: “In the first full year of our return to growth, we made good progress in line with our strategy. 

“Results from our new medicines and Emerging Markets accompanied positive news for patients, most recently including regulatory approvals of Enhertu in breast cancer and Calquence in leukaemia. 

“Our collaborations also progressed at pace, including that with Daiichi Sankyo, while there were several regulatory approvals for new medicines in China at the end of the year, such as Lynparza in first-line ovarian cancer.

“Driven by a strong team, 2020 is anticipated to be another year of progress for AstraZeneca. We are becoming a better-balanced business, both regionally and through our medicines. This transition is a further step towards improving operating leverage and cash generation.”

A Cambridge startup officially still in stealth is raising seed capital to exploit intelligent, always-fitting clothing with embedded AI controls, which it claims is machine washable and can be tumble dried – stealing a march on rival products from US and Korean tech giants.

Decorte Future Industries at St John’s Innovation Centre is patenting a futuristic exoskeleton design which allows intelligent clothing to be user adaptable at all times, to fit any body shape and style, for adults and youngsters. It has already raised some working capital and is bidding to clinch seed funding of £300k to take the technology from proof of concept to initial prototype.

Decorte founder and CEO Dr Roeland Decorte, a Cambridge PhD and codebreaking specialist, says offers of funding have been forthcoming but no term sheets have been signed so far as the business holds out to secure the most powerful mix of smart money between now and April.
 
He says the company is already receiving encouraging signals from key players in strong global markets such as defence, the intelligence services and retail. He says the washability element of the Decorte intelligent clothing puts the fledgling ahead of the likes of Google and Samsung. 

The company has received moral and advisory support from significant players in the Cambridge and wider technology arena, including Dr Gordon Hollingworth, director of engineering at microcomputer pioneer Raspberry Pi – senior adviser to the business. 

A number of local angels are also advising the company on an informal basis while Stephen Lile, managing Partner of Oxbridge Angels and VC Oxbridge Capital Partners, is a senior adviser. Further traction was achieved by the company in January as it appeared on BBC One’s Inside Out programme alongside the Cambridge Angels, who had picked Decorte Future Industries to appear with them on the big screen. 

Pitching alongside Dr Decorte on the BBC was the company’s head of engineering – Jayna Jogia – who was previously a senior engineer with six years of experience at Cambridge Consultants before joining to work full-time on the Decorte exoskeleton.

Two Cambridge PhDs in Machine Learning, both with their own companies in the sector, also joined to advise; one of them leads a Silicon Valley startup that raised $2 million in Series A funding.

It functions as Decorte’s sister company, producing the ML software compatible with the Cambridge firm’s intelligent clothing hardware.

Dr Decorte says: “We believe our technology will trigger a retail revolution. The original idea was born out of frustration: I have not been alone in struggling to find day-to-day clothes that fit. When you want intelligent clothing, with built-in smart technology, it has to be size and material agnostic.

“Our Exoshirt Mark 1 is truly game-changing. When embedded into a garment on production the technology allows any clothing to be adapted to any body-shape or size.

“Furthermore it has solved the fundamental problem that many tech giants have been seeking to solve for over a decade (e.g. Google’s Project Jacquard) – how to make wearable, washable, digital clothing that is also lightweight and does not need heavy battery packs.

“Our solution allows our products to be modular: as much or as little tech as is required can be added to the core exoskeleton technology – from making phone calls and controlling virtual assistants through your clothing in B2C contexts, to embedding rugged comms and controlling UxS for defence purposes.”

In terms of military requirements, Dr Decorte envisages potential uses in terms of both regular uniforms and battlefield dress, having had the capability needs confirmed in meetings with top defence officials. He believes blue light services such as fire, police and ambulance could also benefit from the proposition.

Dr Decorte says: “I realised from the outset that the vision of the future as held by most in the tech world – where wearables become ubiquitous and undetectable through integration in daily wear – held as a hidden prerequisite a fundamental overhaul of clothing and the clothing industry.

“Having decided to forge a new business to address what I felt was a clear void in the market I was fortunate to immediately gather around me a team of some of the brightest tech minds in the Cambridge Cluster who joined without even the promise of equity.”

Dr Decorte was the youngest Belgian student to be admitted to Cambridge University in its 800 year-plus history. He had demonstrated entrepreneurial enterprise at the tender age of eight when he collected sunflower seeds discarded after school handicraft projects and set up a roadside stall to sell them on. Now he plans to spread a little more sunshine in a burgeoning wearables market.

He says; “Our technology is the next big leap in the evolution of computer platforms and human-machine interaction, transforming the human body itself into a user interface for the ever-expanding digital world.

“Our exoskeleton approach integrates the human into the Internet of Things and could render the smartphone unnecessary in many instances.

“The future of the digital world is seamless integration. We will soon arrive at the point where the IoT is so ubiquitous that we will not want to use individual screens, buttons or carefully placed virtual assistant boxes to interact with it. Tech will be all around us and humans will want to integrate themselves into that world.

“The key to seamless integration is allowing us to speak to tech the same way we do to humans – through voice, gesture and touch – fundamentally changing the human-machine team relationship.

“We are the first to make this future a reality: Graphene tattoos still wash away and competing intelligent clothing either cannot be washed at all or repeatedly, while also being limited to single-function commands – and none of them are body-adaptive. 

“Imagine buying a smartphone that only works as expected if you are the right weight or body size. Those days of frustration are at an end.” 

As we enter a new decade, our belief in the the impact of Artificial intelligence is getting stronger. Supporting the industry to drive the right drug to the right patient at speed is a huge responsibility that has to be taken very seriously, writes  Rasim Shah, director at OKRA Technologies. 

Towards the end of the last decade we have seen great progress made within life sciences and the use of AI, but moving in to 2020 the spotlight on commercial teams and gaining competitive advantage with AI will intensify.

Can AI tell us why things are happening? How can we operationalise AI to drive more personalised engagements? How can we support field teams beyond the next best action? How can we predict the future of our brands vs the competition? We need scale with AI, but at the same time we need to be mindful of the different data sets in each market, how can AI help? These are just some of the questions we are asked today by life science commercial teams as we continue to help adoption across the industry.

Supporting commercial teams (sales representatives, sales managers, brand and marketing managers) with AI is not without its challenges. Data access, data privacy, trust and ethics all need to be considered, but utilising data that is already available and providing real world recommendations with full validation and explainability is possible today.

In 2020 I believe the following 3 key trends will drive the use of AI for commercial life sciences leading to scale:

1) Explainability – If your AI is not explainable ditch it!

AI systems will only make us intelligent if we can action the output and humans will only be empowered to take action if they can trust the output. In 2020 explainability will need to underpin the outputs made by AI systems. Why has the prediction, suggestion or recommendation been made? Explainability can not and should not be ignored.

AI is an incredibly powerful tool to drive commercial operations and strategy within life sciences. The ability to process huge amounts of data, see patterns, spot anomalies and ultimately predict sales, sales opportunities, provide lead recommendations and much more is hugely exciting. However, unless an AI system is able to explain the reasons behind its outputs it will fail to drive the trust we as humans require. 

Additionally, without the explanations behind the recommendations the user and the system can’t learn together, and it is this learning which is fundamental to the future success of such systems. In Europe for example, where each market has very different data sets, data granularity and privacy laws the learning process will be critical to driving outcomes over long periods.

Explainability will need to be a fundamental output for all commercially focused AI systems. Our industry is built on evidence and we can not change the rules for AI.

2) It’s a two way conversation – AI systems and humans need to hold hands

AI systems and the users of such systems must be joined at the hip. In 2020 we will see more systems that allow the users to feedback directly into the system. For example, there are thousands of sales representatives on the road, having thousands of conversations every day across multiple therapy areas. These conversations can act as new data points and drive new insights that will improve the learning of AI systems over time.

AI systems and humans will need to communicate and in 2020 commercial teams must make use of user knowledge and create feedback mechanisms that create a rich source of data to feed into future outputs. This combination of technology and human knowledge is essential for commercial AI solutions in life sciences, as the best systems are not designed to replace people but instead empower them to take action with confidence. 

3) Rapid AI pilots 8 weeks – Embrace agile or get left behind

12 month, large scale, full country pilots is an approach we hopefully leave behind. In the new decade, validation of your AI pilot should not take longer than 8 weeks. Commercial teams can become the catalyst for life science companies to adapt quickly to the change that AI is bringing. 

AI can and is fuelling competitive advantage within weeks, and commercial teams should seek to engage external AI vendors that can help accelerate the speed of their business through smarter decision-making and faster execution. 

From creating the business question to the acquisition of data, system design, modelling, feature extraction, prediction accuracy and testing, all of this can be done within 8 weeks if not faster, including the heavy lifting and cleaning of customer data. 

Speed will also become increasingly important when scaling one solution across multiple markets. In Europe alone, the UK, Germany and France have a very different data landscape. Data availability, data granularity, privacy laws and finally the needs of sales reps for example are different and hence rapid, agile pilots are a way to ensure that time and money are not wasted in the hope of driving outcomes through large scale projects.

The growing confidence that life sciences is putting in AI will encourage further innovation in the sector throughout 2020, driving both operational and strategic commercial decisions. 

Moreover, it will be crucial that AI systems follow these 3 trends in order to be effective in approaching the challenges of the modern market and learning at a pace that has not previously been associated with life sciences.

okra.ai

Cambridge technology entrepreneur Dr Mike Lynch has today submitted himself for arrest but his lawyers stress that this is a formality required as part of the extradition process initiated by the US Department of Justice in an ongoing legal wrangle initiated by American company HP and that he is fighting the threat of extradition.

His lawyers Chris Morvillo and Reid Weingarten have issued a vigorous defence of the former Autonomy CEO’s position and a fierce attack on the US Department of Justice. And they warn the extradition bid by the US holds wider implications for British business.

Their statement reads: “Since HP first raised these allegations more than seven years ago, Dr Lynch has steadfastly denied them and has worked hard to properly respond and set the record straight. 

“The UK SFO previously investigated and did not pursue the allegations. Dr Lynch has now answered HP’s claims in the appropriate forum, the High Court in London, where he attended court every day of the 10-month trial.

“During that trial, Dr Lynch testified about all of these allegations for more than 20 days. He has not hidden, nor has he shied away from defending his conduct. 

“Having patiently and diligently defended the case in England for several years, he awaits the civil trial judgment. The US DOJ should not have commenced extradition proceedings prior to the judgment of the English High Court.

“This case has wider implications for British business. The US claims concern alleged conduct in the UK. Dr Lynch is a British citizen who ran a British company listed on the London Stock Exchange, governed by English law and UK accounting standards. 

“This extradition request reflects yet another example of the DOJ’s attempts to exert extraterritorial jurisdiction over non-US conduct. The forum bar in the UK Extradition Act was enacted by the UK Parliament to protect British citizens from such a scenario.

“Dr Lynch vigorously rejects all the allegations against him and is determined to continue to fight these charges.”

Nominations close for this year’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards programme at the end of February and I’m reminded of some of the amazing, innovative and inspirational business owners that I’ve had the pleasure to see be recognised through the years, writes Stuart Wilkinson, Office Partner at EY in Cambridge. 

Passionate, committed and skilled, but certainly not average, are all words that I’d use to describe the entrepreneurs that have been through the programme, including Cambridge’s most recent winner, Martin Frost, CEO of CMR Surgical, who picked up the top honour in the ‘disruptor category’ in 2019.

CMR Surgical is an incredible business, which aims to transform surgery for millions of people worldwide. Borne out of Cambridge, Martin and his team established a new kind of global medical devices business, breaking the convention to make surgical robotics accessible to all.  

This year, the Entrepreneur of the Year programme will celebrate over two decades of success in the UK and over 30 years worldwide, honouring the trail-blazing business leaders across the globe.

In the UK, the programme runs in four regions, London and the South East, Midlands and South West, North and Scotland, with entrants competing regionally for a place in the UK finals and a chance to join entrepreneurs from 50 countries for the global titles. The East of England forms part of London and South East region.

Categories in the programme are Disruptor, Rising Star, Scale-up, Sustained Excellence, Societal Impact, Transformational Leader and a specially chosen award for EY Lifetime Achievement.  

Entrepreneurs are judged against diverse criteria, which includes entrepreneurial spirit, innovation, national and global impact, personal integrity and purpose-driven leadership, strategic direction, and value creation. 

We’d like to see more entries from our East of England region and would encourage business owners and entrepreneurs to get involved.  

Our region is the fourth most populated in the UK and is one of the fastest growing in terms of population and economy, this despite the blip caused by three years of Brexit uncertainty. 

There are significant contrasts across the region however, with large swathes of rural and coastal areas, sitting alongside the major towns and cities. High GDP per capita and low unemployment all make the region more accessible for entrepreneurs in several key sectors. 

The region has a heavy reliance on the service sector economy and financial services, yet innovative manufacturing, automotive, ICT and pharmaceuticals continue to lead the charge for entrepreneurial activity. 

If we take Cambridge as a prime example, its entrepreneurial success has in large part been due to the reach of the University, the presence of several science parks, incubators and innovation centres. 

And, according to the University of Cambridge’s designated Entrepreneurship Centre its moniker The Cambridge Cluster, or Silicon Fen, is fitting as it has become one of the most successful technology clusters in Europe. 

Innovators at the University have also had a massive impact on the economy and the wider community; over 1,600 companies have been created employing more than 30,000 people. 

We also see similar entrepreneurial focus in the other towns and cities in the region and let’s not forget our amazing rural entrepreneurs.

I’m mindful that not enough is being done to shout about the success of businesses and entrepreneurs across the region. And, that’s where EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award can help.  

So, what are you waiting for? Get involved and tell your story of entrepreneurial innovation and success. Visit https://www.ey.com/en_uk/entrepreneur-of-the-year

And why not follow @EOY_UK on Twitter for more information and regular updates.

Cambridge-based gene editing world leader Horizon Discovery is considering issuing an indeterminate number of shares in the US to raise millions of dollars of extra working capital.

Over 50 per cent of shares in the biotechnology business are already in the hands of US stockholders.

While such a move would not constitute an IPO as such it would effectively provide the company with a dual UK and US listing and transition shareholder liquidity to the other side of the Atlantic. 

The London share price headed north on the news even though Horizon declined to go into specifics. At the time of writing the stock was up 9.58 per cent (15.33p) to 175.33.

Well informed sources believe that if the move goes through trading will shift to the States through an American Depositary Receipts manoeuvre which may lead to either an official dual list or a delist in the UK and a switch to NASDAQ, the American technology market.

Horizon isn’t saying much at all, other than announcing a proposed US public offering; it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form F-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the offering of American Depositary Shares. 

It adds that the number of American Depositary Shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined and that the company expects to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes. 

Horizon said: “The Offering is expected to commence after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions, and shareholders and potential investors should note that the potential Offering may or may not proceed.”

The company has also issued a trading update for the year to December 31, 2019 forecasting that unaudited revenues from continuing operations are expected to increase by around eight per cent to approximately £58.3 million.

Reported revenues for full year 2019 (including continuing and discontinued operations) are expected to be around £62.9m, – approximately £61.2m on a constant currency basis, representing growth of some seven per cent on the previous year.  

Revenue growth has been driven by a strong performance in the Research Reagents and Screening Business Units. BioProduction continued to perform well and generated a strong second half performance but, as expected, ended the year broadly flat year-on-year, reflecting the business unit’s exceptionally strong prior-year comparator performance. 

As previously reported, the Diagnostics Business Unit had a challenging first half of the year, reporting revenues 28.6 per cent down on prior year.  The group took prompt action to rectify the situation and under new leadership this business unit had a stronger second half. 

In December, the company completed its divestment of its non-core In Vivo business unit to Envigo RMS LLC. Revenues generated in the period in the financial year that the company owned In Vivo are excluded from the continuing operations update.

The cash balance of £18.8m at year-end 2019 (HY 2019: £24.8m) was in-line with expectations and reflected continued investment in the business with a focus on continued growth and increasing market share.

Horizon continues to follow its Investing for Growth strategy with continued investments in IT, Screening and R & D to support its new Base Editing platform. 

Management believe this will help to accelerate Horizon’s transformation into a high-growth, pure-play tools and services company; it expects revenue growth in FY20 to be in-line with expectations and for the increased investments to reduce FY20 EBITDA to a marginal loss for the year.

CEO Terry Pizzie said: “We have reported a solid full year 2019 performance based on the unaudited results against the backdrop of a busy second half that has seen a number of notable developments that will help to accelerate our transformation into a high-growth, pure-play tools and services company.

“These include the divestment of our non-core In Vivo business unit and a new strategic collaboration with Mammoth Biosciences, which will see us jointly develop new CRISPR tools to develop a next-generation, technologically disruptive suite of CHO cell lines that have been optimised to solve challenges in biologic drug development.

“Just after year-end, following a year of reviewing the technology, we exercised our option to exclusively license a novel Base Editing platform from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US), for use in therapeutic, diagnostic and service applications.

“We are committed to continued focused investment in commercially-led, scientific innovation to stay at the forefront of emerging technologies. 

“By extending our capabilities through in-licensing technologies, partnerships, and collaborations, such as these, we seek to more closely align our tools and services offering to the needs of our pharmaceutical, biotech and academic partners.”

The GDPR re-categorised biometric data as special category data and recent months have seen the ICO bringing its first enforcement action for (mis)use of such data, writes Brett Butcher, solicitor with Birketts LLP. 

The action was brought against HMRC and concerned its failure to obtain proper consent for the use of voice identification technology. 

A more detailed report on the case can be found on our website https://www.birketts.co.uk/insights/legal-updates/ico-biometric-data

The ICO has since reviewed the use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology by the Metropolitan Police Service and the South Wales Police Service. 

Whilst the ICO concluded that fair processing obligations were broadly met in these cases, it did observe that the current lack of a statutory code of practice and national guidelines on the use of biometric data contributes to inconsistent practice and increases the risk of compliance failures.

With the conversation on biometric data looking set to continue well into 2020 and beyond, any organisation considering using biometric data would be well advised to take specific advice.

• You can call Brett Butcher at Birketts on 01603 542715 or send him an email at: brett-butcher [at] birketts.co.uk

A century ago we saw the start of the Roaring Twenties, driven by rapid technological and social change that gave us the discovery of the enzyme Lysozyme, the first antibiotic and sliced bread.

Many breakthroughs have made claim to being the best thing since, writes Tony Jones, CEO of One Nucleus. 

Moreover, a number of those have originated in this region such as monoclonal antibodies, the structure of DNA and fibre optics.

Our innovators, entrepreneurs and corporates have been pushing back the boundaries for decades so it is with confidence I feel we can look to the next decade to be transformational.

Converging areas such as data science, advanced manufacturing, imaging, advanced therapeutics, digital therapeutics, regenerative medicine and genomics continue to enable precision in medicine of which our predecessors could only dream.

The growth and progress to date has been enabled by continued investment in research by successive governments, private investors and entrepreneurs being prepared to take risk followed by large investment from global institutional and corporate investors.

Entering this new decade the biomedical sector, like many others in deep tech, faces some major challenges and competition. One Nucleus will be continuing to focus on supporting members and the region in addressing these challenges where possible as is our remit and drive.

Investing in Innovation

The phrase ‘cash is king’ is a cliché for very good reason. Whilst we have some of the brightest minds and bravest entrepreneurs, it requires investment to continue translating great science into great products to benefit patients, the economy and those taking such risks.

Private investment into the region’s life sciences sector reached record levels in 2018. Of course, not every year can be a record year and one can point to stand out deals made by companies such as Artios Pharma, CMR Surgical and Microbiotica as reasons for such a year.

Make no mistake, 2019 may not have been a record year but it was by no means a poor year and early indications are that whilst investment may have dropped a little, it was still impressive. I am sure data coming out soon will reflect this.

That said, anecdotal feedback and some early data points may be indicating that early stage investment is coming under pressure, a trend we must be wary to mitigate if the pipeline to larger deals is to be maintained.

It is also election year in the US, which could see the opportunities to IPO lessen as we enter the latter part of 2020. Nasdaq has been the IPO route of choice for most biotechs of late, such as Bicycle Tx and Autolus, so losing momentum there could be impactful.

It is not just private sector capital. Successive governments have supported both R & D and enterprise. At a time when the political agenda is changing rapidly, we must ensure this Johnson-led Government doesn’t overlook its brand leader region when investing in our infrastructure and science, nor can it be allowed to underestimate the value of schemes such as SEIS and EIS in stimulating growth creation.

I am sure our political lobby groups at a national level will not allow such damage without resistance and we look forward to supporting those calls. 

One Nucleus is excited to be developing a new investment conference with global partners EBD Group (part of Informa) to be held in Cambridge.

Combining both the One Nucleus and EBD brands, networks and experience, a leading edge conference to attract international investors to the region will take place in July with elements showcasing our translational research and technologies complementing a focused investor showcase. Watch this space for details in the coming weeks!

The people factor

Access to the best people is always a pre-requisite for success. The competition for talent among the companies in the region is fierce. Whilst a slight dampening of vacancy rates was observed in Cambridge post the 2016 vote, falling below the 2015 peaks, a steady recovery has been observed since. With 44 per cent of the region’s life science companies active in R & D and over 90 per cent being SMEs, it is unsurprising that it is scientific vacancies that dominate the recruitment landscape.

A sign of a maturing cluster, however, is that roles much deeper in R & D such as regulatory and clinical have started to narrow the gap. For example, in 2015 scientific vacancies outnumbered regulatory by four to one. 
2017 saw that differential narrow to 60 per cent. Over that time, we also saw a shift in geographic rates, with the balance in UK vacancies across the UK showing a drift away from Cambridge.

This has been quoted as a sign the UK Life Science Industrial Strategy is working for the whole of the UK. If overall numbers rise I would agree; I would urge caution however, against simple displacement of activity over growth. Brand leaders are vital in attracting top talent. 

It is not only the magnetic effect of attracting talent from elsewhere that matters. Much work to address the region’s skills gaps is ongoing. One Nucleus is delighted to be one of the sponsors of the Cambridge Ahead project to evaluate careers advice in schools. 

Engaging the brightest minds in order to create a diverse technical and enterprising labour pool must start early. One Nucleus itself, having established a Skills Special Interest Group is embarking on the launch of a new careers focused conference in March, hosted by Anglia Ruskin University. Not a traditional jobs fair approach, this will be a conference to share learning: A forum to openly discuss what makes employees attractive to employers and vice versa. 

Increasingly, work-based experience is seen as the right way forward yet knowledge gaps in what funding mechanisms, project designs and ethos can be leveraged to attract the best people. These aspects and more will be brought to the table at the event on March  19 entitled ‘Building Life Science Adventures’ where focusing on creating careers not just jobs is key.  

Technology

I’m not sure I have ever heard the phrase ‘there aren’t enough exciting ideas or technology’ applied to the region. Great research is a given and the proximity of these complementary disciplines in biology, medicine, technology and Artificial Intelligence means the potential for innovation is immense. 

I believe it was Medicxi that highlighted that innovation arises at the intersection of technology areas. The region goes from strength to strength in identifying innovation and increasingly deploying that to real world solutions. 

The growing success story that is Cell & Gene Therapy manufacturing at Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst and R & D into the microbiome at the Quadram Institute are just two examples in the region that are centres of excellence attracting global attention and investment. 

Mirrors of the emergence of monoclonal antibodies perhaps, where such strength in continuing to develop the area sees the likes of F-star, IONTAS and Kymab continue to thrive. 

Innovation continues at pace in the R & D Services sector too. Rising stars such as Domainex, Arecor, PhoreMost, Mogrify and Bit Bio are all demonstrating strong deal pipelines and growth as Pharma and large biotech corporates seek to access their unique platforms and technological insights to solve their industrial challenges. 

One must not overlook also the continuing growth and innovation in the more established service companies such as Charles River Labs, Lonza, Abcam, Horizon and Abzena who create such value and momentum through their in-house R & D in support of clients, but also through M & A activity bringing access to new platforms into the ecosystem. 

I have highlighted some biotech-centric players here, but equally those large and small businesses in neighbouring sectors are also impacting on this sector’s ability to change people’s lives for the better. 

They are just too numerous to include everyone, but the One Nucleus Innovation Seminars and conferences planned this year will be sure to bring this breadth to the fore given the benefits of collaboration, inter-disciplinary approaches and as yet unmet medical needs that require such thinking to be addressed. 

I have used the above text to outline why I think the region remains the brand leader region in Europe due to its concentration of excellence in science, technology and business. 

I would truly urge anyone making or influencing policy to ensure they focus on the long-term right things to do as opposed to the short-term easy. Improving patient outcomes and economic growth are not well suited to a quick fix. 

Above all, I hope the above reasons provide confidence that the region is the best place to develop technologies, healthcare solutions and career opportunities that will change lives.