David Walcott

📰 MHRA in the news || “Law change allows UK hospitals to produce personalised gene therapy” in the BMJ – 24 July 2025    The BMJ has reported on world first UK regulations that will enable hospitals to safely perform the final manufacturing steps of personalised gene therapy treatments. 🧪    This would provide patients with “faster access to the often time sensitive treatments”, and hospitals and manufacturers another safe route to deliver care. A central control site will provide hospitals with “instructions and oversight, while they complete the process closer to the patient”. This is a similar process to the one used when chemotherapy and antibiotics are locally prepared.    🏠 The legislation also enables the use of mobile manufacturing units in the community or at a patient’s home for people who are too sick to travel or have weakened immune systems.    🗨️ “️This world-first legislation is a game-changer for patients. Cancer treatments tailored in days, not months. Life-saving therapies made at your bedside, not hundreds of miles away,” said Health Secretary The Rt. Hon. Wes Streeting MP.   🔗 Read more: https://lnkd.in/g4GQG2Us  

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Six Indian health tech champions are set to take their ideas to the world stage through the UK-India Health-Tech Accelerator Awards. The joint programme has become a launchpad for Indian innovators with ground-breaking solutions.   In the last two years, the programme has supported 600+ companies, raised £22 million in investment, and created 70 new jobs. A great example of the power of UK-India collaboration.   With the landmark UK-India free trade agreement paving the way for deeper partnerships, we look forward to more such innovations driving growth in India, the UK, and across the world. Department for Business and Trade |  Lifespark Technologies | RYMO | CognitiveBotics | SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY | Bhubaneswar City Knowledge Innovation Cluster Foundation

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If you want to help create a future where: 1️⃣ people with rare diseases have faster diagnoses and better treatment options, and 2️⃣ innovators find a coordinated, sector-wide approach to get new tests and treatments to market, and help them stay there ➡️ read our latest report with Genetic Alliance UK: https://lnkd.in/e8iPr7Xi It recommends 10 actions that government, regulators, industry, academia, funders, clinicians, and patient groups can take to #ChangeTheRareFuture for those living with rare conditions.

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👋 Let’s talk about men’s health Jack Fertility, the Oxford-based startup has secured over £500k in pre-seed investment to launch its first product: 𝐒𝐧𝐢𝐩 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤™, a home-to-lab postal vasectomy test kit that lets men check their results discreetly, accurately, and from the comfort of home. With more than 40% 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 post-vasectomy checks due to embarrassment or inconvenience, Snip Check™ removes those barriers entirely - turning the Royal Mail network into a nationwide fertility clinic. Led by Lily Elsner and Nick Shipley, and backed by angels from Microsoft, Alma Angels, and The Beam Network - alongside existing investors Moonstone Venture Capital, FemTech Lab, Founders Factory, and the Oxford Seed Fund - this marks an important step in breaking taboos and normalising conversations around male reproductive health. We’re proud to back the team redefining what proactive men’s health really looks like 💪 Full story in the comments below 👇

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📢 Applications are now open for Accelerating FemTech: Evaluate, an Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Accelerator. This new 10-week programme offers tailored support to UK companies developing women’s health technologies at technology readiness level (TRL) 4+, with potential to address key challenges and conditions that affect women differently or disproportionally. Building on our work supporting early-stage innovations for women’s health, this hybrid programme is delivered with national partners to help companies grow, connect with the right people and plan testing of solutions in real-world healthcare settings, including cost-effectiveness. Participants will benefit from tailored business coaching, expert-led workshops, mentoring and targeted networking opportunities, as well as the ability to apply for a closed call funding opportunity from Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst in Spring 2026. 👉 Applications for this Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst funded accelerator are open until 11:59pm on 28 September: https://buff.ly/43dGmjV #BiomedicalCatalyst #FemTech #AcceleratingFemTechEvaluate

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M42’s Omics Centre of Excellence hosted a Continuing Medical Education (CME) event that brought together physicians, healthcare professionals, and specialists to explore how genomics is shaping patient care, as well as the role of whole genome sequencing and other clinical genomics tools in transforming care. This event reflected M42’s role in integrating clinical genomics into care pathways, shifting to a new era of precision, prediction, and prevention medicine. Abu Dhabi continues to lead the region in precision medicine through education, innovation, and clinical adoption. #M42 #ClinicalGenomics

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A life science startup which graduated from a recent Accelerate@Babraham programme is fast-tracking progress towards clinical trials after landing a £3.5 million funding package from founding investor Delin Ventures and trumpeting its official launch. Based at Babraham Research Campus, Athernal Bio is developing new vaccines designed to lower the risk of cancer and certain age-related diseases. Its approach focuses on targeting early indicators of cancer with novel vaccine techniques to eliminate them, aiming to improve patient outcomes. Founded by Nirupa Desai and Ieuan Walker and incubated by Delin Ventures, Athernal Bio is developing what it describes as the first immunotherapies for high-risk clonal haematopoiesis (CH) — addressing blood cancer precursor condition with the aim of stopping cancer before it starts through early and proactive therapeutic intervention. CSO, Nirupa Desai, said: “CH is a well-recognised precursor to blood cancer, but no targeted treatment options currently exist. Patients can often live for years under the weight of knowing their condition could progress to AML, without any way to intervene. Our goal is to develop an immunotherapy that directly targets high-risk CH, with the aim of stopping cancer before it starts.” Athernal Bio CEO, Colin Freund added: “Athernal Bio is pioneering the treatment of high-risk clonal haematopoiesis with targeted immunotherapies. This represents a meaningful shift in oncology, moving away from reactive treatment to proactive prevention. The funding allows us to advance into in vivo validation and accelerate our path toward the clinic.” The investment by Delin Ventures will support in vivo proof-of-concept studies for CH treatment in preparation for an IND focused on this underserved patient group. Full article – https://lnkd.in/eecUnv5t

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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be a major health burden, particularly in communities experiencing higher levels of deprivation. Community pharmacies are ideally placed to address the health inequalities seen in cardiovascular diseases. They are accessible and often walkable for around 90% of the population. To harness this potential we are working with Barts Health NHS Trust ELoPE East London Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Community Pharmacy NEL, NHS North East London and HEART UK - The Cholesterol Charity to pilot a new rapid lipid testing service in community pharmacies. Pathfinder sites have started to prescribe lipid lowering therapy creating a pathway from testing to prescribing and contributing to the NHS 10-year plan. The test takes just seven minutes, providing a full lipid breakdown and calculates a person’s risk of developing a heart attack or stroke over the next 10 years. This test is currently being rolled out in pharmacies in North East and North Central London. Today, David Webb, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer of England had a chance to test the service at LANSBURY PHARMACY LIMITED in Tower Hamlets. NHS North Central London ICB HealthTab Rachana Bhatt Dr Sotiris Antoniou Dr. Raliat Onatade Dalveer Johal Jagjot Kaur Chahal

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