In the second part of our series, editor Thierry Heles takes a closer look at how Birmingham University is building a complete ecosystem for spinouts, startups and late-stage companies.
full article: http://www.globaluniversityventuring.com/article.php/5222/alta-innovations-the-future-of-success
This agreement follows a 2 year joint development agreement (“JDA”) between Molecular Vision, a subsidiary of Abingdon Health, and Sumitomo Chemical, to prove the feasibility of the device. The JDA focused on integrating lateral flow devices and printed electronic technologies to produce an easy-to-use compact device for a variety of diagnostic applications.
Chris Yates, CEO of Abingdon Health, said: “After a successful two year collaboration we look forward to continuing to work with our partner Sumitomo Chemical to develop our new biosensor device. With the advent of big data within medical diagnostics coupled with the increasing desire for connected point of care testing we believe that this multiplexed biosensor device will have considerable applicability now and in the future.”
Enquiries:
Dr. Chris Hand, Chairman
Chris Yates, CEO
Tel: +44 1904 406 082
Official press release:
Commercialisation agreement announced to launch new biosensor device
Hands-on Interactive Statistics Training Workshops
From Tracer Measurement Systems Ltd
Given by Dr. John Thompson, C.Chem., F.R.S.C., F.R.Stat.Soc.
In the Institute of Research and Development, Birmingham Research Park,
Vincent Drive, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2SQ
May 17th/18th Introductory Statistical Quality and Process Control
May 25th/ 26th Statistical Design and Analysis of Experiments
June 7th Introductory Clinical Statistics
June 8th Statistical Analysis of Reliability Engineering Data
June 21st/22nd Further Statistical Quality and Process Control
June 28th/29th Further Clinical Statistics
July 18th/19th Design & Analysis of Clinical Diagnostics Trials
July 25th/26th Design & Analysis of Clinical Therapeutics Trials
For more information on each workshop and for booking forms, please contact Dr. Thompson at: statisticstraininguk@btinternet
In part one of a series about Birmingham’s Technology Transfer Offer, Thierry Heles talks to CEO James Wilkie about Alta Innovations’ origins, ambitions and recently secured first seed fund.
Read More here: http://www.globaluniversityventuring.com/article.php/5207/alta-innovations-the-origins-of-success
With around 14,000 Life Science jobs, the West Midlands has a much stronger track record in this sector than many people realise. Large clusters such as the Edgbaston Medical Quarter have been growing steadily since the 1930’s. This growth isn’t an accident – when the original architect planned and built the old Queen Elizabeth Hospital in 1933 next door to the University of Birmingham Medical School, he said that ‘Modern hospital and medical practice demands there shall be organic and integral connection between the scientist and the clinician for the most efficient treatment of the patient.’
Read more here:http://www.bqlive.co.uk/2016/03/10/life-sciences-and-the-west-midlands
Dr David Bullock
Consultant Clinical Scientist and Director, Birmingham Quality
BIRMINGHAM QUALITY, ESTABLISHED IN 1969 AND THE PREMIER EQA PROVIDER IN CLINICAL CHEMISTRY, IN 1994 CONTINUES TO FLOURISH AFTER 21 YEARS AT BIRMINGHAM RESEARCH PARK. A RECENT HIGHLIGHT IS THE GRANT OF ACCREDITATION TO ISO/IEC 17043:2010 STANDARD FOR PROFICIENCY TESTING.
External Quality Assessment (EQA) services ensure that all hospital laboratories and other testing sites give the correct result wherever specimens are analysed, safeguarding quality, safety and equity of patient care across the UK, as all measurements (including blood tests) are subject to variation. EQA safeguards reliable patient care through assessment and surveillance of the performance both of laboratories and of the commercial products they use. The department provides consultant advice and assistance so they can maintain and improve performance.
The aim of an EQA scheme is to provide clinical laboratories with an objective assessment of their performance, to help them improve the standard of their results and hence the quality of patient care. Scheme operation includes the regular and frequent postal distribution of test materials to participating laboratories for them to analyse. Results are received from the laboratories and, using computer systems, informative reports are prepared for the participants.
The UK National EQAS for Clinical Chemistry was established in 1969 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham with a £500 grant from the then Ministry of Health. Since then the service has developed, under the aegis of the Department of Health (DH) initially and the UK NEQAS Consortium since the mid-1990s, and currently operates more than 30 programmes with 24 staff and a turnover of £2M. We also provide software and secure web services for 7 other UK NEQAS centres, encompassing all clinical chemistry and microbiology investigations.
Birmingham Quality (BQ) is a self-financing NHS unit, operating on a non-profit basis within University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. We provide UK NEQAS services, some BQ services for point of care testing, and the International EQAS for Clinical Chemistry as a WHO Collaborating Centre. This activity requires the production and distribution of 325,000 specimens per year for over 3,000 participants in the UK and overseas, with 85,000 reports including around 1.5 million individual test results.
Early growth was accommodated within the Hospital, but continuing expansion led to a move to the Institute of Research & Development at Birmingham Research Park. Our initial 6 units have increased to 12, with remodelling of the premises to fit our workflow. The accommodation is a mixture of office and laboratory facilities for specimen preparation and storage in 35 -40C freezers. This secure base has encouraged the consolidation of other UK NEQAS services, notably UK NEQAS for Steroid Hormones from Cardiff in 1996 and UK NEQAS for Haematinics from Sutton Coldfield in 2015.
The main advantages of Birmingham Research Park for BQ’s growth have been:
The department has pioneered the application of EQA in laboratory medicine, and other expert centres look to BQ for advice on service design and delivery. As our service assesses the performance standard of entire laboratories, quality requirements are high. Our services have been accredited by Clinical Pathology Accreditation (UK) Ltd since the introduction of Standards for EQA services in 1997. We have now achieved accreditation by UKAS against the new International Standard ISO/IEC 17043:2010 for proficiency testing.
BQ services not only underpin clinical governance for UK laboratories and monitor laboratories delivering National Screening Programmes (Newborn Bloodspot Screening, Bowel Cancer Screening) but also have global influence on diagnostics manufacturers (eg Abbott, Roche, Siemens) and contribute to the evidence base for NICE and other national guidelines.
www.birminghamquality.org.uk