In a galaxy far, far away…
Ok, not that far – just at Lions Health in Cannes this summer – someone said that “Pharma is just fumbling with the bra straps of technology”. Do you agree?
A couple of months ago I went along to a MeetUp event and left feeling truly inspired for what’s to come in the future of healthcare. As with most heavily-regulated industries there’s a bit of catching up to do in pharma, but there are some developments taking place within the NHS that the industry can get really excited about. One of them *cue drum roll* is the Clinical Entrepreneur Programme (CEP).
That evening, over some beers and pizza, a mixed audience of doctors, investors and tech enthusiasts watched a few clinicians present their ideas, heard Dr Nadine Hachach-Haram talk about the benefits of enrolling in the CEP, and finally learnt about how the whole programme started from its founder Professor Tony Young (National Clinical Lead for Innovation for NHS England). Here are five reasons why I feel we can be excited about the CEP:
1. “Don’t underestimate the Force”. The young clinical entrepreneurs are not only frontline staff of the NHS but also brilliant inventors. They’re optimistic and want to rejuvenate the healthcare system from within. They’re looking at fresh ways to save costs as well as deliver quality services. For example, check out this successful past CEP project Proximie.
2. An order of Jedi knights to save the Galaxy. When Professor Young met the leaders of Verily (the health arm of Alphabet, Google’s parent company) in Silicon Valley they told him that they were looking for the next Luke Skywalker… if that’s the case then the CEP is training a whole army of Luke Skywalkers in health. As one of the largest organisations in the world, the NHS is an incredible force to be reckoned with.
3. If the entrepreneurs are Jedi knights, then Professor Tony Young is their Yoda. Professor Young is a practicing Consultant Urological Surgeon at Southend University Hospital and says he’s “just a plumber from Essex wanting to transform healthcare”. Inspiring and an entrepreneur himself, he pitched the CEP programme to Sir Bruce Keogh (NHS England’s National Medical Director). According to Professor Young, Sir Bruce told him to “make England the place to go to for medical innovation!”. Watch out Silicon Valley
4. “The Force is strong with this one”. To date, the CEP has taken in over 100 doctors, created over 50 start-ups with 15 successful funding rounds – raising from £100k-£10m and over 5 million patients and healthcare professionals impacted so far. Not bad for a programme that launched just over a year ago!
5. A New Hope. The pharmaceutical industry wouldn’t be where it is today without medical pioneers such as Louis Pasteur, Frederick Banting and Alexander Fleming. Collaborating with some of these healthcare entrepreneurs (and the hundreds that already exist) may:
- Improve patient outcomes: pairing medicines with some of the apps and digital tools that may be developed by the CEP can only be beneficial, to everyone from the GP to the A&E consultant.
- Establish links to patients: as more people adapt and start embracing new technology solutions to monitor and improve their health, there will be more information about their medication-taking adherence habits, preferences etc., which can improve patients’ experience when shaping products and new treatments.
- Strengthen brands: a pharma company partnering with an innovative tool or platform to enable patients to digitally manage their condition can only enhance their whole treatment (and wellness) journey; an improved patient experience can only strengthen a brand.
- New product lines – new business opportunities: some (not all) digital health solutions are being developed in a highly scalable and less heavily-regulated environment. It can only be a win-win situation for pharma (traditional health innovators) to work with these entrepreneurs (new health innovators).
A few weeks ago, the CEP’s 2017 Big Pitch Event took place (you can read about it here on Eurekadoc).
It’s an exciting time and something we should keep an eye on… To Professor Young and his army of entrepreneurs: May the force be with you!