Heather Hobbs NEWS&VIEWS Bringing you all the latest Business and Financial News and Views from the Science Industry Monica Wins Exporter Award


University of Nottingham spin-out Monica Healthcare Ltd won the 'New Exporter' Award at the East Midlands International Business Awards 2009, after outstanding export success with its new healthcare technology. The East Midlands International Business Awards recognise the best businesses across the region which are trading internationally and making a real impact on overseas markets. The awards are hosted by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), which brings together the work of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.


Spun out from the University in 2005, Monica has developed miniature wireless technology


Engineering and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at The University of Nottingham. Based in Nottingham’s Biocity, the company has seen its product, launched 2008/2009 procuring export sales accounting for 95 per cent of turnover — with early success in Europe, the Gulf and Australasia following successful regulatory approval.


Monica UKTI award


which can monitor the well-being of a mother and her unborn baby. Monica’s AN24 wireless foetal-maternal monitoring device is the culmination of 15 years of research in the Department of Electrical and Electronic


Dr Barrie Hayes-Gill, Associate Professor in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and one of the original inventors and Dr Carl Barratt, Chief Executive of Monica Healthcare Ltd, were on hand at the ceremony to collect their award from guest speaker and former rugby star Matt Dawson.


TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 543 Scotland’s Life Sciences Sector Receives Boost


Scotland’s flagship Edinburgh BioQuarter project has received a £24 million injection of funding to further accelerate growth in the flourishing life sciences sector. The news comes after the UK government confirmed that Scottish Enterprise has secured £12 million of UK Strategic Investment Fund support towards the cost of a commercial facility at the BioQuarter. This will be matched with £12 million of Scottish Enterprise funds. A specialist three storey building will open its doors in 2012 and become home to some of Scotland’s most promising and ambitious life sciences firms. It will also further strengthen the BioQuarter’s position as an internationally competitive location for biomedical research and development.


BioQuarter partners, Scottish Enterprise, Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc, the University of Edinburgh, NHS Lothian and the City of Edinburgh Council, have developed the BioQuarter proposition as an unrivalled location for translating medical discovery into clinical products whilst delivering significant economic impact. It combines an internationally renowned


university and medical school, a 900 bed hospital with a world class clinical trials centre, and a commercial research campus that will house some of the world’s leading biotech companies.In total the long term implementation and delivery of the whole BioQuarter initiative is expected to have a net gross value add impact of £327million over a 25 year period.


Lena Wilson, Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise, said, “This injection of funding is a very welcome boost for the BioQuarter and the life sciences sector in Scotland as a whole. The BioQuarter is one of the largest projects of its type in Europe and this funding will allow the partners to cement Scotland’s position as one of the most dynamic locations for life sciences globally.”


Finance Secretary John Swinney, said: “Life Sciences is a key sector of the Scottish economy, with huge potential for contributing to Scotland’s economic growth. That is why the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise have supported it strongly, investing in support for life sciences companies, and in the infrastructure they need to develop new drugs and


technologies in collaboration with our world class university medical schools. The Edinburgh Bio- Quarter initiative is a key part of that infrastructure, and this announcement of funding for a Bio-Incubator is hugely significant for the future success, not only of the Bio- Quarter, but of life sciences right across Scotland.”


Scottish Secretary, Jim Murphy, said: "This is a massive boost for the economy in Edinburgh, Scotland and the whole UK. Our life science sector is a vital part of a rebalanced economy producing long term sustainable and resilient growth. It’s also an area where Scotland has a real edge. Today’s funding will help create the high value industries and jobs of the future, while attracting further private investment."


Scotland’s thriving life sciences sector adds over £3 billion to the Scottish economy annually. The sector in Scotland is internationally recognised in areas such as translational medicine, reproductive biology, diabetes, oncology, stem cells and infectious diseases.


TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 544 Southampton Photonics Centre to Boost UK Manufacturing


The South East Photonics Network (SEPNET) has welcomed Business Secretary Lord Mandelson’s recent announcement for a state of the art photonics manufacturing research centre at the University of Southampton. It is part of a £70million government investment that also includes new centres at the universities of Loughborough and Brunel for regenerative medicine and liquid metals.


The EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Photonics at the University of Southampton will work with industry to develop fibre materials and technology platforms, train a new generation of engineers and fuel growth in photonics-related manufacturing. Investment from EPSRC will total £4.7 million over a five-year period starting in March 2010. Thirteen industrial partners will contribute a further £4.6 million.


“This is a new type of funding which will take photonics research to commercial readiness, bridging the gap between scientific developments and industrial impact,” said John Lincoln from SEPNET. “It will generate research projects that culminate in a working laboratory model of a manufacturing process, just one step away from an industrial pilot plant and ready to be scaled up by manufacturers.”


“This shows how seriously the government is taking photonics, an area in which the UK is already internationally recognised as a centre of excellence. Now we need to develop our manufacturing skills so we can create end products using this technology and strengthen our ability to compete globally before other countries move ahead of us.”


Professor David Payne, Director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the


University of Southampton, commented: "Photonics at Southampton has benefited from sustained EPSRC funding over the last 40 years and has made a huge impact on areas as diverse as the internet, laser manufacturing, environmental sensing and the biosciences. With strong support from our local photonics cluster of ten companies and from companies throughout the UK, we welcome the opportunity to enhance our contributions to UK economic growth through this new initiative in Innovative Manufacturing Centres.”


The UK photonics sector is financially strong despite the global recession, with companies reporting new international distribution deals and double-digit growth in 2009. There are over 200 organisations active in photonics in the South East and South West including niche companies specialising in technologies such as LED eco- lighting and scientific and industrial lasers.


TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 545 Oxoid cake winners


Oxoid, a world leading microbiology brand, delivered the first of 12 batches of cakes to the microbiology laboratory at West Park Hospital, Epsom, UK. The lab was the lucky winner of an Oxoid draw to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Oxoid logo, which took place at the recent Institute of Biomedical Scientists Congress held in the UK.


As winners, the microbiology lab at West Park will receive a delivery of cakes from their local Oxoid representative, Aideen Coyne, (pictured holding the cakes) each month until September 2010. “We invited those visiting our stand to try our complimentary celebratory cakes and to enter the free draw and there was certainly a lot of interest,” commented Fiona Macrae, marketing communications manager, Oxoid “We are delighted that West Park will be celebrating with us for the next 12 months!”


TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 547


Anachem Division Becomes new Source for Chromatography Products


Anachem Instruments Ltd, now operating as a new company formed from the previous Instruments Division of Anachem Ltd, is providing instrumentation solutions and consumables for HPLC, SPE, ALH and Laboratory Filtration applications. It will be continuing its 40 year relationship with Gilson Inc remaining as the exclusive Gilson Instrumentation distributor for the UK and Ireland and also providing full sales and support services for these products.


Anachem Instruments Ltd also supply its own range of Flexus automated liquid handling products as well as Reactarray chemistry workstations and an extensive range of chromatography and filtration consumables from leading suppliers. Support chemists and service engineers are on hand to provide dedicated support to scientists in major pharmaceutical, biotechnology, clinical, food, universities, research institutes, governmental agencies and environmental testing organizations, offering different levels of service, support and maintenance to suit individual needs and budget.


TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 546


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