64. Evaluation of Groundbreaking Collaborative Life Science Projects
Kada research were commissioned by MedCity and London Advanced Therapies (LAT) to evaluate a series of Research England, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Greater London Authority funded programmes focused upon supporting Life Science companies across London, the South-East, and England.
The Collaborate to Innovate (C2N) and Confidence in Collaboration (CiC) programmes have facilitated and deepened collaborative work between SMEs and the academic community. The programmes funded a range of Life Science projects including the development of pioneering products and services for the treatment of life threatening and life limiting diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Covid-19, Multiple Sclerosis, and heart disease.
The programmes originally involved three London universities with international reputations for Life Science excellence; Kings College London, University College London and Imperial, before expanding to include universities across England.
Kada’s evaluation included a desk review of the life science industry and associated government policy and support, stakeholder interviews with the Medcity and LAT teams, in-depth qualitative interviews with the project academic leads, impact case studies and surveys with the SME beneficiaries.
We concluded that the projects have significant impact in terms of technology development, advances in research, product development, and the vital synthesis of research/product evidence. They have resulted in substantial commercial impacts with: advances in Technology Readiness Levels making progress towards marketisation; GVA increases; job creation; turnover growth; and follow-on public and private investment.
The clients were very impressed by the quality of these evaluations especially in terms of their readability and contribution to understanding the substantive scientific, innovation and commercial impacts these collaborations have resulted in. Kada has since secured further evaluation commissions in the Life Science are from Medcity and partner organisations including the University of Cambridge.
“These evaluations build on our growing track record of life science work for several of the UK’s leading research institutions. From pioneering new treatments to major drug breakthroughs we listened and reported on what can be achieved when academics and SMEs collaborate on research ideas.” Pat Coupar, Project Manager, Kada Research
If you are thinking about commissioning a similar evaluation or if you would like to talk through an idea or hear more about this work you can contact us at pat@kadaresearch.co.uk.
