The body tasked with driving up innovation in the West of England’s growing healthcare sector has generated more than £12m to support collaborative projects between health service providers, industry and universities.
The West of England Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) plays a critical role in improving healthcare delivery throughout the area and beyond. 
The progress it is making in innovating healthcare practices to provide the best possible patient care and experience is highlighted in its new Innovation Impact report.
Since it was formed in 2013, the AHSN – one of 15 networks in the country funded by NHS England – has engaged with more than 450 companies interested in bringing their ideas to the healthcare sector.
It is supporting 14 live projects which are helping to tackle challenges such as medicines adherence, mental health, atrial fibrillation, independent living, trauma and diabetes.
West of England AHSN director for enterprise, Prof Lars Sundstrom, said: “Enabling and catalysing productive collaborations is at the heart of what we do. Through our work we have to date provided advanced stage assistance to 63 companies wanting to work with our healthcare community.
“We are also currently supporting 17 businesses, 30-plus health and social care providers, and four universities and research bodies in 14 different collaborative projects.
“To make sure innovation funding is directed at priority areas, we have worked closely with our healthcare providers to identify their key challenges and to connect them with businesses who have the background to provide a solution.”
The AHSN has recently completed a 435-strong register of medical technology, biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the West of England to continue to drive up engagement with the local healthcare industry sector.
“The network has also been responsible for mobilising citizen-led innovation, with over 100 members of the public contributing ideas to generate new products to maximise independent living,” said Prof Sundstrom.
Life sciences businesses across the South West employ around 20,000 people while the sector is worth an estimated £9bn to the regional economy – some £8bn from the NHS, which has 136,000 staff in the region. Businesses in the sector tend to be highly innovative and range from university spin outs and start-ups through to multinationals in the medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.
Swindon is a major hub for the industry with large employers such as US pharma giant Patheon, which makes antibiotics at its Covingham plant, US firm Catalent which makes fast-dissolving tablets at Blagrove, and French-owned medical supplies firm Vygon at Blagrove.
