Washington80 companies move closer together
One of the original aims of the Washington80 mission – to foster synergistic new collaborations and working relationships between Welsh companies – has been realised with Kuecept Ltd, the specialist drug delivery technology company, becoming the first company to sign up as an Affiliate of the Institute of Life Science (ILS) at Swansea University.
The ILS is Wales’ foremost life science incubator and the ILS Affiliate Scheme is specifically designed to encourage life science and healthcare companies of all sizes to access the expertise and state-of-the-art facilities available. Set to significantly increase the company cluster that is growing up around the ILS base in south west Wales, the scheme was officially launched in March at BioWales 2010.
In the words of Kuecept’s Executive Chairman and CEO, Bryn Williams, said: “We signed up for the IBW Washington trade mission in 2009 primarily to explore business opportunities on the US East Coast. As part of the programme we met representatives of the ILS, who were also scouting for opportunities. It proved to be a very fortuitous meeting and our discussions grew from there.
“The Affiliate Scheme is ideal for Kuecept. It gives us a ‘home’ at the ILS and access to expertise and facilities across the University campus, including specialists in Swansea University’s new Centre for NanoHealth. We’re now working on joint research collaborations with leading academics. Just being in the building is giving us a better understanding of what’s on offer.”
Professor Gareth Morgan, Head of the School of Medicine at Swansea University, added: “We’re always looking for flexible ways to help the sector and the Affiliate scheme provides the perfect ‘soft landing’ for companies that want to develop a relationship with the ILS without taking the major step of establishing a permanent office.”
The ILS Affiliate Scheme is open to all companies working in the life science and healthcare sectors, with a particular emphasis on potential high-growth organisations wishing to establish a foothold in the South West Wales region. Its benefits include a hot-desk facility in the heart of the ILS plus access to laboratories, specialist facilities, equipment, academic and business expertise and the use of meeting and conference amenities.
For further information about the scheme, visit http://www.swansea.ac.uk/ils/Workingwithus/
