On Tuesday, BIVDA Chief Executive Helen Dent attended a roundtable focused on health innovation with Health Minister, Zubir Ahmed and Science Minister, Lord Vallance. Several other major government figures with life science interests were also in attendance, including Steve Bates, Executive Chair, OLS; Dr Axel Heitmuller, Head of the PM’s Delivery Unit; Dr Penny Dash, Chair, NHS England; David Lawson, Director of Medical Technologies, DHSC; and Lawrence Tallon, Chief Executive, MHRA.
The meeting, which took place at the Royal Society, centred on how collaboration between industry and government can drive growth across the MedTech sector. The Government has ambitious plans for health and life sciences in the UK, with the Life Sciences Sector Plan aiming for the UK to be the leading life sciences economy in Europe by 2030 and the NHS 10-Year Plan’s ‘shifts’ driving systematic changes which should benefit health innovation. Therefore, this event was a welcome and timely opportunity to build upon these foundations with direct and frank engagement.
Helen made several important interventions during the meeting. She stated the need for measurable targets on adoption, which accommodate both patient safety and risk, alongside incentives for the system to ensure that innovations are adopted at a much faster pace.
Helen emphasised the enormous shift which is currently taking place in the NHS — with greater focus on prevention and early diagnosis — which should not be underestimated. Nor should the scale of the challenge for the rigid system, which currently lacks understanding of how to work with industry and still perceives diagnostics to be a cost rather than an enabler for savings. Helen appealed to leaders in government to alter this mindset to unlock innovation adoption.
Lastly, Helen called for NIHR to provide extended support to prevent the ‘valley of death’ which befalls many fledgling diagnostics companies. She argued that this would result in better use of public funds, as elevated levels of support would result in fewer companies failing prior to achieving sales.
The roundtable is set to be repeated in future, and BIVDA will continue to voice members’ challenges to create improvements across the IVD industry. You can hear more about the roundtable at next week’s Government Affairs Working Party.
