THIS MONTH
Funded collaboration on offer
Industry should take advantage of the funding and resources that are now available for new product development. Sixteen Innovative Manufacturing Research Centres (IMRCs) throughout the United Kingdom (UK) have guaranteed funding for five years; for some this extends up to 2012. They are seeking collaboration with industry for short or long term projects. There is also the possibility for collaboration in European Framework Programme Seven (FP7) proposals, in which consortia should consist of a variety of European companies and academic partners.
The IMRCs range in value from £1.5–14 million (e1.9–17 million), the investment comes from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), which is funded by the UK Government. Their objective is to generate significant world class new knowledge and provide strong support to the manufacturing sector; industrial collaboration is a critical part of the venture.
Assisting the IMRCs is the Health Technologies Knowledge Transfer Network (HT KTN), which is dedicated to accelerating innovation and technology translation to the medical sector. A group comprised of small and large multinational medical companies has been set up to provide awareness of the needs of the medical industry. Several unique offerings are designed to assist industry in collaborating with IMRCs. In addition to research, dissemination and technology transfer, these include:
- the ability to work outside the traditional university project based framework
- shorter response times with the facility to set up projects quickly
- easier access for small and medium sized companies to academic research projects because the duration of research can be flexible.
The IMRCs also participate in major EPSRC programmes, referred to as Grand Challenges, that target new technologies. One of them, Remedi, aims to contribute to the growth of the regenerative medicine (RM) industry. Led by Professor David J. Williams of Loughborough University/Health and Care Infrastruture Research and Innovation Centre, the programme brings together multidisciplinary academic and industrial partners with state-of-the-art expertise. It intends to support small company growth in this area and is working to
- create and demonstrate replicable cost-effective processes for the scaleable production of cells, scaffolds and tissue products
- assist in the development of policy and regulation to spur on the growth of the industry
- significantly progress understanding of the manufacturing challenges for RM as well as accelerate the emergence of the industry.
For more information on this programme or how to partner with IMRCs for project work, contact Tom Pinto, Health Technologies KTN, tel. +44 1223 899 000, e-mail tom.pinto@twi.co.uk,
www.healthtechktn.com.
Drug delivery to intensify
US demand for drug delivery systems, including the value of the delivered drugs, will increase by more than ten per cent annually to reach US$132 billion in 2012, according to the Freedonia Group. Advances in biotechnology will lead to rapid growth opportunities for parenteral drug delivery systems. Led by monoclonal antibodies and nanopolymer therapies, parenteral formulations will eventually surpass oral dosages as the largest group of drug delivery systems, expanding to more than 15 per cent annually by 2012. The ability to precisely target drugs in the treatment of cancer and other debilitating diseases will broaden the need for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. The market share of oral drug delivery systems is expected rise to 7.1 per cent per year over this period. www.freedoniagroup.com.
Staffing problems in microtechnology
As business opportunities increase for micro- and nanotechnologies, companies operating in this sector are experiencing a scarcity of qualified staff. According to a member survey by the IVAM Microtechnology Network, 47 per cent of companies expect to be affected by this shortage in 2008. This compares with only 30 per cent in 2007. People with a technical or scientific background are particularly scarce; they account for more than 80 per cent of the shortage. www.ivam.de.
