Regional Successes Celebrated at Healthcare Awards

Posted: 10/11/2011

Six of the region's best healthcare and life science companies were honoured at the Cels Business for Life Awards at St James Park, on Wednesday 9 Novemeber 2011.

Winners ranged from major international exporters to dynamic start-ups with Newcastle’s QuantuMDx Group Ltd and Healthworks County Durham and Darlington both picking up two awards on the night.

Hartlepool based Hart Biologicals Ltd must be one of the few companies that expanded into Greece last year, but the country was just one of a handful of new markets for the firm who saw export sales grow rapidly last year to win the export award sponsored by the UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).

The firm, which manufactures biological reagents for investigating blood clotting problems in GP surgeries, pathology laboratories and surgical theatres, has taken its product into Australia, Sudan and Poland as well as enjoying another year of major growth in their key US market.

Another winner on the night was QuantuMDx, whose decision to relocate from London to Newcastle to take advantage of the facilities and expertise at Newcastle University paid dividends with the company winning both the Innovation Award sponsored by Newcastle Science City and the Technology Award sponsored by Northumbria University.

The company is developing a hand held DNA sequencing and microarray device that could potentially be used by the police in roadside drug testing, by vets to detect infectious diseases and even by the military to provide early detection of biological warfare. The technology is still at an early stage but QuantuMDx has already secured a major grant from the NHS and is collaborating with some of the most respected global academic and industrial organisations who are interested in the product’s potential.

For the first time there was also a primary care award, sponsored by the Faculty of Applied Science, University of Sunderland, which recognises companies that have produced innovative products or services leading to better outputs for patients. The winner of the award was Healthworks, County Durham and Darlington who focus on bringing about ‘step’ changes in health, encouraging local participation and removing barriers to access in an area that has some of the worst health in England with high rates of smoking, low rates of physical activity and a high proportion of incapacity benefit claimants.

E-Quality Learning Ltd provides training on assistive software and was named best start-up in the category sponsored by NorthStar Ventures. They provide one-to-one training and back this up with a centrally cloud-based resource library. 90% of training is now delivered online by the company’s trainers who are experts in supporting disabled users, and working with carers.

The Outstanding Growth Award, sponsored by Sintons, went to Northumberland’s SCM Pharma who last year took home the Export award. The Prudhoe-based firm manufactures novel, difficult and dangerous drugs for pharmaceutical clients across the globe and has seen sales grow by 40% since 2009.

The company this week announced a £5m expansion, opening new clean rooms in Newburn after sales grew from £2.3m to a predicted £4.2m in 2011 and is already looking at new markets in Europe, the US and Asia.

Professor Sir John Burn was the winner of this year’s HealthConnect award sponsored by Nigel Wright, which recognises an outstanding individual from the thousands of scientists and researchers working in the sector.

Now in its fifth year the prestigious awards are run by Cels, a specialist business services organisation providing a unique range of business development solutions to the life science and health technologies sectors and has this year attracted the greatest number of nominations to date, reflecting the wealth of talent in the sector.

The North East is home to over 200 life science and healthcare companies with a direct turnover of nearly 1 billion pounds, and through their manufacturing capabilities they contribute to a UK output of over seven billion pounds.

We have a wealth of talent and expertise employed in companies, academia and the NHS and together they are one of the largest employment sectors in the region.

The awards were preceded by the first Cels Expo, which brought together over 300 of the key people and organisations in the life science and health technology sector to discover the latest developments in the sector and learn about new business opportunities.

Dr Mike Nicholds, Managing Director of Cels said: “The North East’s health technology and life science sector continues to grow and it is particularly rewarding to see new entrants picking up Business for Life Awards.”

“Although there is a great deal of change going on in the global sector and in the region, it is great to see and be able to celebrate these regional success stories. Some of these companies are very small, but by being innovative and not giving up they are developing new technologies, reaching new markets and generally working to improve healthcare for individuals across the UK.”

The full list of winners is as follows:

Export Award sponsored by UKTI – Hart Biologicals Ltd
Hart Biologicals manufactures and supplies key biological reagents for the investigation of blood clotting problems in GP surgeries, pathology laboratories and surgical theatres. Additionally, Hart biologicals provides contract services including product development, regulatory submission, manufacturing, customer service, sales, marketing and global product distribution.

HealthConnect Award sponsored by Nigel Wright – Prof Sir John Burn
Professor Sir John Burn grew up in the North East and attended Newcastle Medical School. After postgraduate training in medicine and paediatrics he worked for the Medical Research Council at the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London. In 1984 he became the region’s first consultant clinical geneticist. He was Clinical Director of the Northern Genetics Service from 1989 – 2004. In 1991, he became Professor of Clinical Genetics and was head of Newcastle University Genetics Department for six years. In 2001 the new Institute of Human Genetics was opened as part of the Centre for Life. John was appointed Medical Director and subsequently became Head of the Institute in 2005. He is now the lead clinician for NHS North East and the Genetics Lead for the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). His many national and international roles include General Secretary of the UK Clinical Genetics Society 1989 – 1996, member of the UK Human Genetics Commission 2000 – 2005 and President of the European Society of Human Genetics 2007.

Innovation Award sponsored by Newcastle Science City – QuantuMDx Group Ltd
QuantuMDx has developed a handheld DNA sequencing and microarray device, Q-PC™. The device, currently in prototype, will eventually deliver affordable, rapid and accurate sequence information to doctors and health professional to advice on genetic mutations and infectious disease resistance status with the same accuracy as state-of-the-art full laboratories. Their technology and approach allows sample result diagnosis in less than 20 minutes and will bring the costs of complex testing from the hundreds of pounds range into the routine pathology price range.

Outstanding Growth Award sponsored by Sintons – SCM Pharma
SCM Pharma is a Northumberland-based Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) that makes novel, difficult and dangerous drugs on behalf of its pharmaceutical clients. It provides formulation development and sterile manufacturing services for companies progressing new medicines through pre-clinical and clinical trial phases and others that require licensed products for commercial markets.

Partnerships with the NHS Award sponsored by Newcastle University – Healthworks, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
Healthworks is a health living resource centre in Easington Colliery. They provide a wide range of positive health and community information services and activities to
promote and support positive health and well-being. Healthworks provides more than 45 health and community support services.

Primary Care Award sponsored by Sunderland University – Healthworks, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
Healthworks is a health living resource centre in Easington Colliery. They provide a wide range of positive health and community information services and activities to promote and support positive health and well-being. It acts as a community focal point where service providers and community groups can come together to address issues that affect the quality of life in the local community.

Start-Up Award sponsored by NorthStar Ventures – e-Quality Learning Ltd
e-Quality Learning is a research led business, specialising in training on assistance software. They provide one-to-one training and back this up with a centrally cloud based resource library. They provide individual libraries by recording elements of the trainee’s session, including trainee/trainer voice. Trainers are specifically trained in supporting disabled users, and working with carers. They deliver improved rates of retention through these methods, shorter sessions, individualised plans, cognitive understanding and personalised recordings of sessions.

Technology Award sponsored by Northumbria University – QuantuMDx Ltd
QuantuMDx has developed a handheld DNA sequencing and microarray device, Q-PC™. The device, currently in prototype, will eventually deliver affordable, rapid and accurate sequence information to doctors and health professional to advice on genetic mutations and infectious disease resistance status with the same accuracy as state-of-the-art full laboratories. Their technology and approach allows sample result diagnosis in less than 20 minutes and will bring the costs of complex testing from the hundreds of pounds range into the routine pathology price range.