Five companies triumphed at the first Mayor of London MedTech Business Awards, held at City Hall this week.
The winners included an AI-based ‘clinical sat-nav’ system for doctors and patients; a communications app for people with speech and language difficulties; and a new solution for ordering NHS prescriptions straight to your door.
These awards demonstrate the scale and range of medtech companies in the capital that form part of our world-leading life sciences sector
The awards were part of the Mayor of London’s annual MedTech Conference, run by MedTech London, a business support initiative run by the South East Health Technologies Alliance (SEHTA) in collaboration with MedCity and funded by the Mayor’s office.
The ceremony coincided with the publication, by MedTech London, of the
Rajesh Agrawal, London’s deputy mayor for business, said: “London is proudly home to hundreds of the world’s-most-innovative medical tech companies.
“Not only do they provide high-skilled jobs and boost our capital’s economy; they also develop lifesaving, creative products for patients the world over.
“We know that our health service is under more and more pressure, so innovation and fresh thinking like this is vital.”
Dr David Parry, chief executive of SEHTA, added: “We had a record number of entries from London-based companies and the competition was intense, demonstrating the excellence of small health technology companies in the capital.
“It’s a primary aim of SEHTA to help such companies access public and private sector markets with their innovative products and services.”
And Sarah Haywood, chief executive of MedCity, who was part of the judging panel, told BBH: “These awards demonstrate the scale and range of medtech companies in the capital that form part of our world-leading life sciences sector.
We know that our health service is under more and more pressure, so innovation and fresh thinking like this is vital
“These young companies are already making a big impact on patient care and one thing that stood out to me is the collaborations across industry, academia, the NHS, and patients, which has made these the innovative, successful products they are.”
The five award winners will now be entered into the National MedilinkUK Awards which will be held in Coventry on 25 April as part of the Med-Tech Expo 2018.
The full list of winners is below.
The Export Award: Winner: SmartMed
The SmartMed digital health platform has been developed to provide a holistic care for patients while at the same time ensuring clinicians are fully supportive and provide remote care.
SmartMed Global is a London based company focusing on digital healthcare.
The Innovation Award: Winner: Therapy Box
Therapy Box creates digital tools to help people with communication disabilities.
Since launching its first app in 2011; the company has released 40-plus apps in this sector, with over 200,000 downloads.
Founded by a speech and language therapist, each app is designed to meet a challenge faced by people with speech, language and cognitive disabilities.
The company has won awards including the Queen's Award for Enterprise, and its co-founder, Rebecca Bright, was made an MBE in 2016.
Partnership with the NHS Award: Winner: Transforming Systems
Transforming Systems was founded during the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic in 2009 to address problems with real-time, comprehensive information across the NHS and social care.
It aims to allow the NHS and social care to gather whole-system data and turn it into actionable intelligence.
Each system is developed with frontline staff.
Since going to market 24 months ago, the company has grown by 300% and now serves 30 clinical commissioning groups across England.
It is a spin-out from the University of Greenwich.
The Start-up Award: Winner: Deontics
Deontics provides clinically-led artificial intelligence that delivers individualised, evidence-based clinical decision recommendations, acting like a ‘clinical sat-nav’ for doctors and patients.
The technology uses large amounts of data, evidence, and patient preferences to create personalised disease management plans, which can be used in any clinical environment.
Oustanding Achievement Award: Winner: Echo
Echo is a simple, free and secure app that lets you order NHS prescriptions and get medication delivered to your door.
Patients simply tell the app who their GP is and what repeat medication they need.
The app sorts out the prescription and delivers medication for free.
Smart reminders nudge patients when to take meds and when they are about to run out.
Transforming Systems aims to allow the NHS and social care to gather whole-system data and turn it into actionable intelligence
The runners-up were:
- Innovation Award: iPLATO
- Partnership with the NHS Award: Neo-Slip
- Start-up Award: LiveSmart
- Outstanding Achievement Award: mOm Incubators