Home to one of the most cooperative environments in the UK, the central South boasts a first-class balance of academia, health and industry.
The human life sciences sector is among the most valuable and strategically important in the UK economy and is set to be one of the great drivers of growth this century.
The opportunity for the UK life sciences sector is to work collaboratively with the country’s best academics, the NHS and regulators to accelerate the development of new drugs, diagnostics, technology and digital tools to bring life-changing innovations to the public more quickly.
The UK life sciences sector has a wide geographic distribution, although the central South is a region particularly rich in assets and has unique strengths in life sciences – with universities, NHS trusts, internationally acclaimed institutions and a vibrant private sector.
The Southern Policy Centre (SPC) is an independent think tank and policy forum for central Southern England. Based on its in-depth collaboration with many of the leading public and private sector partners in life sciences in the region, including in depth interviews, its 2022 report ‘Life Sciences in the central South’ highlights how unique regional initiatives are making strides towards national objectives, for example in tackling dementia and ageing, keeping the UK ahead in vaccine science, managing and preventing long term conditions, developing immune therapies and in understanding mental health – and how to improve it.
© INSTITUTE FOR LIFE SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON
The SPC finds that where the central South stands out is where regional partners are working more closely together to tackle health and wellbeing challenges, which can drive prosperity.
For example, the University of Southampton leads the National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC) and the University of Portsmouth is also an important partner in this concentration of expertise in microbiology and anti-microbial resistance. Researchers work with NBIC and its global industrial partners to control and exploit biofilms (layers of microorganisms that stick to wet surfaces and are the most common mode of bacterial growth in nature). Biofilms are a leading cause of antimicrobial resistance but there is also significant potential to harness and exploit them for economic and social benefit.
At Bournemouth University, the Orthopaedic Research Institute produces high quality research and academic outputs to advance the fields of orthopaedic surgery, related diseases, treatments and devices in collaboration with hospitals and industry partners -including the multinational medical device company Zimmer Biomet.
The Central South is also a data powerhouse in which the collective value of patient datasets can inform treatments and the impact of health interventions, and institutions, businesses and communities are committed to working closely together. The region has won funding from NHS England to develop a secure digital location – providing research access to data while protecting patient confidentiality. There is a rich demographic variety and Dorset’s much older than average population is of interest to business and researchers, including Bournemouth University, hospitals and communities, wanting to understand future health challenges.
The Institute for Life Sciences, centred at the University of Southampton, confirms that more than 220 health and life science companies prosper in the immediate vicinity of the Central South’s coastal cities of Southampton and Portsmouth and the Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) authority area, and around 500 innovative life science organisations are within an hour’s drive.
Emerging opportunities within the region include health, innovation and medtech campuses in Bournemouth, Southampton, the proposed new hospital at Basingstoke, and the HEAT (Health, Education and Technology) project at Salisbury. HEAT is seeking to regenerate and develop the city’s district hospital site for medical and related educational/ life sciences uses. The scheme involves the introduction of replacement hospital accommodation and the establishment of a new higher education facility.
The expanded site also offers space to accommodate life-science employment provision, building on links with the hospital and higher education, and clustering with nearby Porton Down Science Campus. Porton is internationally known in relation to its laboratories investigating biological threats and is home to the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) – previously Public Health England (PHE) Porton – and Porton Biopharma Ltd.
As featured in Central South’s PROSPER Magazine – download the full magazine here.
