Recent government data shows there to be more than 3,000 medical technologies companies in the UK, generating over £33billion in revenue.
This makes it one of the fastest-growing sectors, and showcases just how critical the UK has been in achieving excellence across healthcare.
To further support the development of innovative new products and services, Pfizer is working with late-stage companies to help start-ups deploy their solutions.
And this week, the company announced the three winners that will form the first cohort of health tech start-ups to be supported by the Pfizer Healthcare Hub: London.
These include: Echo, Cera and GiveVision.
The three start-ups will work with Pfizer to identify the areas they can most benefit from support with over the next 12 months, with the aim of having the technology working in the NHS within a year.
We were deeply impressed by the quality of healthtech start-ups operating in the UK who applied to be a part of the Healthcare Hub
These winners will have access to Pfizer’s network of global partners, seeking to improve the experience and outcomes of both patients and clinicians.
They were selected by a panel of judges including vice president of Swansea University, Professor Marc Clement; Dr Sam Barrell, chief executive of the Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust; Daniel Dickens, chife exective of The HELIX Centre at the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London; and Anna King, commercial director at the Health Innovation Network and Digital Health London.
Pfizer UK’s medical director, Dr Berkeley Phillips, said: “We were deeply impressed by the quality of healthtech start-ups operating in the UK who applied to be a part of the Healthcare Hub.
“It was an incredibly-tough decision to narrow the shortlist down to a final three, but Echo, Cera and GiveVision stood out with their ability to demonstrate how their technology could deliver real benefits across our health system today.
“We’re excited to be working with them over the next year as part of our wider programme of digital innovation and look forward to seeing the impact of their technology on clinicians and patients.”
Cera is a technology-enabled home care provider which works to provide consistent, transparent and comprehensive care using automatic matching, online care reports, competitive pay, and strategic partnerships.
Echo is a simple, free and secure app that lets patients order their NHS prescriptions and get medication delivered to their door.
GiveVision is behind SightPlus, a wearable headset developed to help improve vision for certain forms of visual impairment.
Dr Ben Maruthappu, co-founder and president of Cera, said: “Pfizer’s knowledge of, and relationships with, the UK healthcare system will be invaluable in helping Cera scale over the year ahead.
We founded GiveVision because we saw the potential of technology to make a difference where it’s needed most
“Our aim is to work together to radically improve how homecare is delivered in London and beyond, making it quicker, more reliable, more transparent and of the highest quality.
“Our partnership with Pfizer will also be instrumental in helping us deliver medicines and new therapeutics to the elderly, which could be life-changing.“
GiveVision’s founder and chief executive, Stan Karpenko, added: “We founded GiveVision because we saw the potential of technology to make a difference where it’s needed most.
“Working with Pfizer will help us to put our technology into the hands of those that need it most to positively impact lives.”