Local medtech consortium partners UK’s NHS for business, research opportunities

SINGAPORE’S medtech companies will now have greater access to business and research opportunities within the United Kingdom’s state-run National Health Service (NHS), following the signing of a collaboration agreement.

The Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which has more than 10,000 employees and runs three hospitals in the west of England, on Tuesday (Jul 25) inked a memorandum of understanding with the Singapore Medtech Consortium.

“If you are a startup, and you’re wanting to get into the NHS, it can be incredibly difficult,” said Claire Richardson, commercial director of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

She added: “What this bridge does is that it actually opens up direct contact with one of the largest trusts in the NHS – we can incubate, we can collaborate, we can support with doing clinical trials, and we can help to nurture that entrepreneur from concept, right through to development within the NHS.”

The Singapore Medtech Consortium, which is composed of venture capitalists, manufacturers and distributors from Singapore’s medtech industry, has about 200 members within its ranks.

With the agreement, consortium members who are keen on expanding to the UK can do so via the NHS route and make use of pre-existing business networks, said consortium chairman Willy Koh.

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At the same time, medtech players in the UK are also able to utilise the same network to expand in Singapore, said Koh, who is also chief executive of medical device manufacturer Racer Technology.

“Singapore is a small market, and this is a good platform for (medtech companies) to distribute in the UK,” he said.

“They can also do certain clinical trials that cannot be done in Singapore because of this partnership.”

Facilitating access to capital is another key plank of the initiative, said Richardson.

“We are supporting and helping them access money within the UK,” she added.

“We don’t have an actual budget, but our commitment through this collaborative bridge is that we will help entrepreneurs find the funding within the UK.”

The guest of honour for Tuesday’s event was the British High Commissioner to Singapore, Kara Owen, who highlighted the growing number of UK companies with operations in the Republic during her speech.

In 2022, some 5,700 UK companies were active in Singapore, compared to 4,500 in June 2019, said Owen.

“This collaboration that we’re announcing today will give medtech entrepreneurs from both our nations an excellent entry point to explore commercial opportunities in the UK, Singapore and the broader South-east Asian region,” she added.