The Role of Public/ Private Collaborations in Innovation- Highlights from our Virtual Breakfast Briefing 21 Jul 2021
Against a backdrop of achievements yielded from public/private collaborations in the context of the pandemic response, we focused our latest virtual briefing on the crucial role such partnerships play in furthering biopharma and medical devices innovation.
Our first speaker was Dr Malcolm Barratt- Johnson, Managing Director of PMC. Malcolm’s presentation set the scene with a discussion of how the public and private sectors complement one another and bring respective strengths – such as legal authority and government-backed resources on the public side, and management efficiency and access to a broader base of expertise on the private side of the equation. Malcolm highlighted some high impact examples of public/ private initiatives, including the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) & The Innovative Health Initiative (IHI).
We were pleased to welcome our second speaker Nicki Bromwich, COO of MedCity. Nicki gave us a deep dive into the specific role MedCity plays within the life sciences ecosystem in the UK and beyond, and how it builds infrastructure, supports investment and drives innovation by connecting stakeholders. She shared some inspiring success stories, including the role that MedCity played in helping to facilitate collaborations as part of the COVID-19 response.
It was clear that we have a robust and effective private/ public ecosystem in place, which has served us exceptionally well as an industry and gives us a solid foundation for even greater success in the future.
The closing discussion with our audience of pharmaceutical and biotechnology attendees raised several areas for exploration and development. Many of these centred on how we can better understand the sometimes complex connections between stakeholders, deepen relationships and increase transparency. We discussed the potential difficulties for SMEs in navigating and accessing the complex public/private ecosystem and whether there was a role for additional support or guidance in this area. Another area raised was ensuring economic growth is bolstered in regions outside London and how the Academic Health Science Networks collaborate with organisations such as MedCity. There is also potential to explore how we can forge better connections between government regulators and biotechnology and start-up hubs within the framework that we have available.
The meeting provided valuable insights into some of the established success stories, and potential action points to help harness public/ private partnerships even more effectively to boost innovation. We thank our speakers and delegates for making this event so engaging.
If you missed the event or would simply like to refer back to the content you may watch the recording here:
We will resume our virtual briefings in the Autumn. If you have any ideas for topics you would like us to showcase, please email us at hello@pharmamedic.co