Awards Celebrate Dynamic Life Sciences Sector


The presentation of the Scottish Life Science Awards held at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel, recognised the success and achievements of the country’s internationally-renowned life sciences sector over the last 12 months in areas such as innovation, investment, business leadership and collaboration.


Sponsored by the University of Glasgow and a raft of other leading organisations including GSK, Concept Life Sciences and Merck BioReliance, the event in May was attended by 750 of the leading players in Scotland’s life sciences sector which currently adds over £4 billion a year to the Scottish economy, with 700 organisations employing nearly 40,000 people. Ambitious targets, set by the refreshed Life Sciences Strategy for Scotland in 2017, aim to double the size of the sector to £8 billion by 2025.


Minister for Energy, Business and Innovation Paul Wheelhouse presented this year’s trophies which included two new categories designed to shine a light on the sector’s rising stars. Mr Wheelhouse said: “Scotland’s Life Sciences Awards Dinner is a great opportunity to see the range and diversity of Scotland’s life sciences industry and to recognise the hugely positive impact that the sector has on Scotland’s economy.


“Record investment in the life science sector sends out a clear message that Scotland is an attractive and dynamic place in which to do business. It is the therefore always a pleasure to attend these awards and to meet the companies who are helping to shape Scotland’s economic future.”


Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak, Vice Principal and Head of College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow provided the keynote address for the sold-out event.


“This is an exciting time in the Life Sciences sector, with Scotland’s SMEs, health service and research-intensive universities well placed to collaborate and take Scotland to the next level in the sector. By working together, we can achieve immense health benefits for patients and deliver strong economic returns for Scotland.”


This year’s judging panel included Dave Tudor, co-Chair of the Life Sciences Scotland Industry Leadership Group. Commenting on the selection process, Dave Tudor said “This year’s awards were particularly hard to judge as we were inundated with nominations across all categories. The quality of the winners and finalists was truly outstanding and really demonstrates the calibre of individuals and companies working across the life sciences sector in Scotland.”


This year’s winners are:


Business Leadership Award (2017) – Sponsored by Opportunity North East Campbell Grant, Founder & CEO, Sitekit Ltd, which develops innovative software that is helping to transform the delivery of health and social care services in the UK. Founded on the Isle of Skye in 1989, the company has steadily grown with offi ces in Edinburgh and Oxford and over 50 staff now employed. The company has co-designed a digital health platform aimed at enabling frail elderly people to live independently and comfortably in their own homes for longer by forming a circle of care.


Rising Stars: Extraordinary Talent (2017)


Dr Caroline Barelle, CEO and co-founder of the next generation therapeutic biologics company, Elasmogen. The company discovers and develops soloMERs which are novel drugs for site-specifi c treatment of auto-immune infl ammatory diseases and cancer. Caroline has been awarded a prestigious Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellowship, named in the top 20 female biotech CEOs in Europe in 2017, is a doctoral graduate from the University of Aberdeen in Biochemistry and a master graduate in business (MBA) from Robert Gordon’s University.


Innovation Award


Orbital Diagnostics Ltd, a developer of rapid antibiotic susceptibility tests (AST) to detect antimicrobial resistance with technology aims to transform standards of care, by giving doctors the ability to prescribe the right drug for the right bug in minutes. Orbital’s success to date has been marked by signifi cant commercial interest from leading medical device companies and a Longitude Prize Discovery Award.


Investment of the Year (2017)


NuCana plc, headquartered in Edinburgh, and with offi ces in Boston Massachusetts, is a clinical-stage, biopharmaceutical company focused on signifi cantly improving treatment outcomes for cancer patients by applying its ProTide™ technology to transform some of the most widely prescribed chemotherapy agents, nucleoside analogs, into more effective and safer medicines.


The company, co-founded by Hugh Griffi th in 2008, raised $114 million from world-leading investors in their IPO in October 2017. NuCana’s previous Series B fi nancing in April 2014 was for $57 million.


Rising Stars: High Growth Company (2017)


TC BioPharm (TCB), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing novel, cell-based products for treatment of cancer and severe viral infections.TCB employs a team of over 60 staff and acts as a fully integrated pharmaceutical company encompassing GMP Manufacture, quality, product development, regulatory affairs and in-house clinical research. During 2017, TCB raised over £25 million to progress its cancer research projects. This included grants (including H2020), equity investment and partnerships (with Bluebird Bio – Boston and the NIPRO Corporation – Osaka).


Innovative Collaboration


CorporateHealth International with OpenBrolly in collaboration with NHS Highland and the Digital Health & Care Institute, all working towards resolving the ‘Diagnostic Bottleneck’ of gastrointestinal examinations. By using a small video camera that the patient swallows instead of doing a bulky colonoscopy, examination capacity can be dramatically increased – and screening can be delivered in the patients local community. While CorporateHealth conducts the procedure and OpenBrolly ensures secure data exchange with the NHS, Raigmore oversees the medical process.


Outstanding Contribution to the Growth of Life Sciences in Scotland


Hugh Griffi th, Founder & CEO of NuCana plc, has over twenty-fi ve years’ experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, having held CEO, COO and Executive Director positions. This rapidly growing, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, with a broad development portfolio of novel anti- cancer medicines, raised $114 million in October 2017 from world-leading investors in its IPO. NuCana’s previous Series B fi nancing in April 2014 was for $57 million.


CEO of Alida Capital International, a biopharmaceutical business angel syndicate, Hugh is also involved in several other biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies.


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Agreements Strengthen UK-Israel Ties


During a visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), Science Minister Sam Gyimah signed new landmark agreements which will boost innovation, as well as academic and scientifi c collaboration between the UK and Israel. Focusing on implementing improvements around ageing and Artifi cial Intelligence, the partnership will look to develop new technologies and opportunities in these areas.


Science Minister Sam Gyimah said: “The UK has a strong science and innovation relationship with Israel and I have signed two landmark agreements which will take this to the next level. There are so many strategic opportunities for these two innovation power houses. Increased collaboration will help to realise this potential.


“Many of the challenges we face, from an ageing society to disruption caused by AI and big data, are felt around the world. With our commitment to embrace the opportunities of these through our Industrial Strategy Grand Challenges, we need to work with our international partners, like Israel, to ensure we take advantage of these global changes and improve people’s lives for the better.”


The government to government innovation agreement, signed


with the Israel Innovation Authority, is being supported by a multi- year £4 million bilateral programme. The programme, receiving £2 million of funding from each country, will be led by Innovate UK and will support developing new innovative ideas in a number of areas, including artifi cial intelligence and advanced materials.


Minister of Economy and Industry, Mr Eli Cohen: “Israel is recognised as the ‘Start-Up Nation’ with more start-ups per capita than anywhere but Silicon Valley, an established entrepreneurial culture and hundreds of multinationals looking for innovation here. Collaboration with Israeli innovation ecosystem will help UK enterprises unlock the potential of integrating innovating technology to transform their business.


“This agreement will help drive economic growth in both countries The goal is to create partnerships in which British companies help Israeli innovations go global and Israeli innovation gives British companies a global competitive edge.”


The Science Minister also visited the Occupied Palestinian Territories where he confi rmed the number of scholarships being offered through the British Council’s Higher Education Scholarship Palestine (HESPAL) is increasing this year. This increase will enable the next generation of senior academics at Palestinian


UK Science Minister Sam Gyimah at the signing of the MoU with Israel Innovation Authority CEO Aharon Aharon. Image Credit: Ben Kelmer Courtesy British Embassy Israel


universities develop and enhance links between Palestinian and UK universities.


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