Highest impact investor recognition for Innovate UK
Innovate UK’s work and investment in the life sciences sector has been recognised with a leading industry award.
Innovate UK receive the Highest Impact Investor award at the OBN Awards 2017.
The OBN Awards 2017 celebrate the best of UK life sciences and Innovate UK was judged the winner of the Highest Impact Investor award for its work in supporting innovative companies in the industry over the past year.
The announcement comes as Innovate UK confirmed that a further 46 projects in the health and life sciences sector will share £15 million in funding from its latest competition.
Innovate UK’s Director of Health & Life Sciences Ian Campbell attended the ceremony, and said:
This was awarded unanimously by the judging panel and based on the special contribution that Innovate UK is making to growing and scaling SMEs.
As we celebrate Innovate UK’s tenth anniversary, we are grateful for the recognition that this award gives us as a funder and supporter of high value UK businesses working in health and life sciences.
We were also encouraged to see so many Innovate UK supported businesses nominated or winning awards at the OBN ceremony.
Innovate UK is at the forefront of supporting UK business as they seek solutions and new approaches to healthcare, food production and quality. We committed to spend up to £117 million (21% of our core budget of £561 million) on health and life sciences in 2016/17.
The projects Innovate UK funded that have had success in the past year include:
- biopharmaceutical company, Autolus has progressed to trial its novel CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor T-cell) therapy for people with multiple myeloma, which is the second most common blood cancer
- health tech start-up Entia has developed a hand-held blood testing kit that can be used at home by chemotherapy patients, which helps them to manage their treatment
- University of Oxford spin-out Run3D has developed a real-time analysis and retraining system to help professional athletes, sportsmen and women, and runners to avoid injuries and improve their performance
The OBN Awards, which are in their 9th year, were presented in a ceremony at Oxford Town Hall (October 5) and recognise outstanding scientific innovation within biotech, medtech, digital, synthetic biology, the companies that support the industry and the fundraisers that make it happen.
Background
Innovate UK
Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency. Innovate UK drives productivity and growth by supporting businesses to realise the potential of new technologies, develop ideas and make them a commercial success.
Innovate UK is the trading name of the Technology Strategy Board, which is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and incorporated by Royal Charter in England and Wales with company number RC000818. Registered office: Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon SN2 1FL.
Contact: pressoffice@innovateuk.gov.uk or 07766 901150.
About the OBN Annual Awards
The OBN Awards, now in its 9th year, celebrate innovation and achievement across the UK life sciences industry.
About OBN
OBN is the membership organisation supporting and bringing together the UK’s emerging life sciences companies, corporate partners and investors.