The Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation

Monday 8th February, 2010 Science Bridges China platform launch at the Royal Society was an excellent success

The University of Bradford hosted the UK launch of its China Science Bridges programme on Tuesday 2 February at the Royal Society, London.

With £1.3m funding from Research Councils UK, the Science Bridges: Bradford-China Programme for Pharmaceutical Sciences and Medical Technology programme focuses on collaborative research and development in pharmaceuticals and healthcare, bringing scientists and companies from the UK and China together to develop new therapies, medical diagnostics and devices.

The award acknowledges the strengths of the University of Bradford in managing strategic innovations with China, and provides a range of new opportunities for bridging East and West, from fundamental research to the establishment of promising new companies.

The Science Bridges awards provide funding for collaborations between British universities and institutions in China, India and the US and involve three of the University of Bradford’s leading research and knowledge transfer areas including, the Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation, the Institute of Cancer Therapeutics and the Polymer Interdisciplinary Research Centre. It focuses on the development of products aligned with the planned priorities of both the Chinese and British governments in their respective health delivery plans and associated industries such as diabetes, infection control, traditional Chinese medicine and medical devices.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer, Professor Phil Coates, at the University, said: “We are delighted to be unveiling this programme in the UK at the Royal Society.”

“This programme provides us with the opportunity to accelerate the pace of innovation through combining scientific resources and talents across the UK and China. Through this programme we hope to be able to bring new therapies and healthcare technologies to market, forging stronger links between Eastern and Western approaches to medicine, and taking steps towards implementing new solutions to combat diseases such as cancer, diabetes and malaria”.

The programme aims to accelerate product invention, design and development by addressing three main activities. These include an ‘Open Innovation’ project scheme to develop prototypes and products, reciprocal training programmes and developing state-of-the-art knowledge and commercial networks.

This platform has led to further funding in China, including support for research programmes at our partner institutes (including Tsinghua, Shanghai IMM CAS for drug delivery projects, and Sichuan for a biomedical materials project), and to local government support, initially in Changzhou for open innovation programmes in China.

Guests attending the event include representatives from Research Councils UK, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, Changzhou city along with leading companies and academics from China and the UK. Keynote speakers at the event include Head of International at Research Councils UK, Dr Sophie Laurie.

The event was a great success –
Chris Cotton, head of the China-Britain Business quoted
“Dear ‘Team Bradford’,
Many thanks for the excellent, formal launch of the Bradford Science Bridges China initiative at the Royal Society yesterday.
I found it informative and inspiring and look forward to helping as best I can to take this exciting project forward.”

Sophie Laurie head of RCUK International wrote:
“We are thinking about some university visits this year specifically focussed on international collaboration so your offer to come to Bradford is one that I will alert my team to. I have to say that I think your work programme looks very exciting…
We will definitely be in touch with regards to evaluation as I think the sort of added value that you are demonstrating, combined with the regional pull and spread, will give some good stories.”