West Midlands healthtech sector growing rapidly
A state-of-the-art development in Birmingham is further cementing the West Midlands as a hub for life sciences. Jennifer Townsend, partner at Knight Frank, explores the top five reasons for the expansion of this exciting sector.
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The West Midlands is poised to capitalise on the emerging UK healthtech sector, positioning itself as a hub for health innovation and life sciences businesses.
Health Technology or ‘healthtech’ is a sector encompassing digital products and services that are designed to improve health and/or the provision of healthcare.
A new state-of-the-art life sciences hub is under development in Birmingham, in the latest sign of the region positioning itself as a key player in the UK healthtech space, which attracted £1.12bn in investment in 2020, according to the latest report by Tech Nation.
The 657,000 sq ft Birmingham Health Innovation Campus, being developed in partnership with Bruntwood Sci-Tech and the University of Birmingham will contribute to an already thriving ecosystem of businesses: as our map below shows, there are already 298 life sciences companies based in the wider region.
Five catalysts for growth
Looking forward the West Midlands’ life sciences sector is set to expand further with up to 10,000 new and replacement life sciences jobs needed within the region by 2030, according to the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership.
Here we take a look at the top five catalysts for this growth:
1. Significant new funding sources
The West Midlands Recovery Action Plan proposes public investment of £137m into healthcare innovation. The Midlands Innovation Commercialisation of Research Accelerator also plans to raise £300m over the next five years to seed investment in university spin-outs.
2. The strength of its life sciences ecosystems
According to UKSPA there are already eight science parks in the West Midlands. Recent and planned expansion includes the £54mn Biomedical Research Building at Warwick University and the planned Birmingham Health Innovation Campus.
3. New technology
The West Midlands is already the second largest cluster of healthcare technology SMEs in the UK and the third-largest MedTech cluster in the UK.
4. Open collaboration
The West Midlands is home to a number of organisations that bring collaborative partners together to get treatments to the market faster. Birmingham Health Partners, for example, brings together the University of Birmingham and two NHS foundation trusts to enable cross-functional collaborations.
5. Real-world evidence and value-based contracts
The West Midlands has one of the largest clinical trials bases in Europe.
Focus on: West Midlands
Focus on: West Midlands is an in-depth report from Senior Research Analyst, Anna Ward, that looks at the important role this region has to play in the UK’s economic recovery.
As well as delving into life sciences, the report explores the region’s economic expansion, employment opportunities and the evolving build-to-rent market amongst other key themes.