The next programme in EESCN's "Academic, Business and Clinical" series,- with speakers from each constituency-, will be held in Cambridge on 22 July.  At present, there is no charge for membership.

 Details appear on our events page.

Julian 

If anyone is under any doubt of where the best place is to grow Europe's leading regenerative medicine cluster, a significant award, by the UK Government's Department of Business, Innovation & Skills, confirms it.  However, significant opportunities may be lost without support for translation, as two important reports make clear.

Cluster Award

With around 150 SMEs associated with the medical device sector and associated supply chain, and over 250 biotechnology SMEs, the East of England has more drugs in the clinical pipeline than any other cluster in Europe. The region also has a strong research community within the 11 Higher Education Institutions (including the Universities of Cambridge, Cranfield and East Anglia) and research institutes such as the Babraham Institute, John Innes Centre, and 11 of the Medical Research Council’s 23 research units located in the region.

According to Dr Belinda Clarke, Life Sciences Manager for the East of England who led the cluster’s successful bid in the Cluster Mark competition, it is the strong connections within the cluster and the resultant benefits for the businesses that helped clinch the award. “Cooperation and collaboration are at the heart of our cluster success” she commented, “Coordination of the cluster and, importantly, close interaction with other clusters in the UK and Europe is ensuring we are well-placed to maximise the benefit of co-location and, importantly, adaptation to change in response to global trends and economic challenges. We are delighted to have won this award to validate our constant efforts to grow the cluster.”

Read the East of England International story from which this is taken here.

Bridging the Regeneration Gap

The impact of stem cell research undertaken in the East of England region is immense, as Biolauncher's global stem cell  benchmarking analysis makes plain: see here.  However, translation of the region's world class science suffers from a lack of intermediate support which compromises potential growth.  This has now become the subject of two separate official reports, which appeared within days of the Cluster Award.

The House of Commons Select Committee on Science & Technology published an independent published a report on 25 March 2010 with specific consideration being given to stem cells .  The press release entitled the report, rather bluntly, "Bioengineering is being lost in translation".  EESCN submitted written evidence to the Bioengineering enquiry.  The Chairman of the Committee, Phil Willis MP, said in an accompanying press release that, “The UK has a poor record in exploiting world class bioengineering research to generate health, economic and societal benefits. If the Government is serious about bridging the ‘valley of death’ between basic research and commercial production then it must increase funding for early-stage translation and ensure that regulations do not needlessly stifle the activities of researchers. The UK must take every opportunity to make the most of its research base.”

A potential solution to the gap problem had been published only days earlier: the Hauser Report, "The Current and Future Role of Technology and Innovation Centres in the UK".  Dr Hauser is Chairman of the East of England Stem Cell Network, although the report addresses national issues in technology translation and is not confined to stem cell science and regenerative medicine.  The report suggests a role for Technology and Innovation Centres to provide vehicles between academic research and commercialisation, with models such as the Frauenhofer Gesellschaft, Carnot Centres and Dutch TNO.  The report makes 14 clear recommendations to government, which were (at least nominally) accepted by Peter Mandelson (UK Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) on the very day that the Bioengineering Report was published.

"It is notable that two such prestigious and independent reports should identify the same issue at the same time," observes EESCN Director, Julian Hitchcock.  "There is an urgent need for better support for the translation of regenerative medicine inventions in the United Kingdom.  It is the prime focus of the East of England Stem Cell Network to help in this endeavour, by trying to create a strong translational infrastructure, albeit with negligible funding: indeed depending upon voluntary contributions of time and effort.  Without such an infrastructure for regenerative medicine, the Goverment will squander significant new channels of wealth that have often been created as a result of public research funding.  Focusing on finding new wealth from these new sources, by supporting the concerted approach of a dedicated 'Clerk Maxwell Centre' for regenerative medicine, seems a far more positive approach to the economy than relying on a policy of cutting services.  The Cluster Mark Award, and the impact of the region on international research, provides strong support for establishing a Clerk Maxwell Centre for Regenerative Medicine here, with close cooperation with colleagues in other networks."