Medical investment

Medilink North West has secured £816,000 in funding to improve resources and support for the north-west’s medical technology sector.

The funding, which consists of £416,000 from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and £400,000 from the Northwest European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), will provide medical technology businesses with support services, funding opportunities and access to networking events.

The investment also aims to increase exploitation of research-and-development opportunities in health technology between special interest groups, universities and hospitals.

Steven Broomhead, chief executive of the NWDA, said: ‘The medical technology sector is strategically important to the region’s biomedical industry. Despite the current economic conditions, it has demonstrated year-on-year growth and, through increasing innovation in the sector, it has the potential to grow even further.

‘This project will support medical technology companies in developing innovative new products and processes, raising awareness of finance available and providing access to new markets,’ he added.

Mike Gill, chief executive at Medilink North West, added: ‘This award, which combines support from ERDF and NWDA funding, is crucial to our business-plan progression to take Medilink North West through to 2012 and beyond. We now have a truly viable opportunity to build on the hard work and resultant success of the past two years and increase our services to medical and health technology businesses in the north-west.’