21st March 2013
New £4million Welsh Wound Innovation Centre to deliver health and wealth benefits
A new £4million national centre of excellence in wound prevention and treatment is to be established in Wales with the dual aim of delivering health and wealth benefits for people in Wales.
The Welsh Wound Innovation Centre will have a strong commercial focus on job creation and business as well as delivering a full range of clinical research and knowledge transfer services to NHS and commercial customers.
The announcement was made by Edwina Hart, Minister for the Economy, Science and Transport, when she addressed delegates attending BioWales 2013 where the theme is the future of healthcare.
The Minister described it as an exciting and innovative venture and collaboration that has the unanimous support of all seven Local Health Boards and welcomed the “opening up” of the NHS in Wales to innovation and industry engagement.
The Minister said: “The Welsh Wound Innovation Centre provides us with a real opportunity to excel in this area. Wales has the expertise to provide a solution and the capability to become a world recognised leading nation in this important clinical area.
“Wound healing is a niche speciality identified by the Life Sciences Sector Panel and in our Science for Wales strategy as an area of genuine excellence for Wales.
“We have acknowledged global leaders in the field working here in Wales as well as a strong network which links the business, clinical and academic communities. The Welsh Wound Innovation Centre will build on this firm foundation.”
The collaboration will, she said, promote the reputation of Wales in this specific area and support the development of innovative business clusters.
Funding for the centre comes from the Welsh Government, all seven local Health Boards and the private sector, with the aim of becoming self-financing within three years, via revenue from academic grants; clinical service and commercial sources.
It will be an arms-length subsidiary company of the Aneurin Bevan Health Board, acting on behalf of all seven LHBs, and based at Gwaun Elai, Llantrisant, which is owned by the Welsh Government.
The Centre will directly employ 31 people, and over its first five years aims to deliver at least eleven inward investments to create a business cluster and up to 45 new jobs, attracting external revenue to fund clinical research and to pay for other contract and commercial activities.
Dr Andrew Goodall, Chief Executive, Aneurin Bevan Health Board, said: “The NHS in Wales is pleased to be a key partner and founder of the new WWIC. In challenging financial times, we need to retain an approach which rewards research and innovation.
“This is an important development that brings together government, a university perspective and the NHS. It builds on existing work in Wales which has an international reputation for wound healing to bring health benefits and subsequent financial savings.”
The Welsh Wound Innovation Centre team, led by Professor Keith Harding, Head of the Wound Healing Research Unit at Cardiff University, has already had encouraging in-principle discussions with a number of businesses, relating to partnerships as well as co-location within the Wound Innovation Centre.
These include some companies already based in Wales, as well as a number of large multinationals and potential first-time inward investors.
On the healthcare side, the Wales Wound Innovation Centre will improve management and delivery of wound prevention and treatment, enhancing quality of life for patients through better diagnosis and treatment outcomes, resulting in fewer hospital admissions and shorter hospital stays, and reduce healthcare costs for the NHS Wales LHBs.
Professor Harding commented, “The new centre will act as a focus for research, clinical and commercial excellence in wound prevention and treatment. This will position Wales in a global leadership position in addressing this growing healthcare issue.”