London's thriving digital health scene showcased at BioEurope

LONDON, Nov. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Technology innovation has real potential to effect change in how healthcare services are provided and consumed according to MedCity, the life sciences promotion agency set up by the Mayor of London. MedCity, in partnership with London & Partners and the Department for International Trade, is at BioEurope to showcase London and the South East as a leader in digital health.

A new wave of digital health companies in 'The Golden Triangle' of London, Oxford and Cambridge are transforming the treatment of illnesses and giving patients greater choice in how they access healthcare services.

Across the UK, half of the population regularly uses the internet to self-diagnose, with two-thirds going online for health information and four out of five stating they would use technology to ask clinicians questions.¹

Initiatives such as DigitalHealth.London, a pan-London initiative created to support London as the global capital for digital health are helping to accelerate the adoption of new digital health technologies.²

London's Deputy Mayor for Business, Rajesh Agrawal, said:  "The digital health innovations at this event highlight how London's first-class life sciences, med-tech and healthcare sectors are taking a leading role in improving the health of people around the UK and across the world.

"London is open to talent and creativity, and is the perfect place for digital entrepreneurs to work with top scientists on developing vitally important health technology."

Chair of MedCity and CEO of Immunocore, Dr Eliot Forster, added: "Already, many of the world's most innovative advances in digital healthcare are happening in the golden triangle. Patient data is being combined with wearables and apps, leading to better, more personalised treatments, reducing hospital time and saving the NHS money.

"Our award-winning research institutions, thousands of talented scientists, deep experience in clinical trials, and open regulatory environment, combined with the expertise of London's tech ecosystem make for a very fertile territory for digital health entrepreneurs. The £4.2bn investment by Government to digitise the NHS has come at the right time for us to keep pushing innovation forward and transform the future of healthcare."

Globally the market for digital health is forecast to be worth £43 billion by 2018.¹ 'mHealth', which is technology such as apps and wearables, is the fastest growing sector of the market with the European market for mHealth expected to overtake North America by 2018 and be worth £7.1 billion.³

Additional research by MedCity this year found that consumers expected advances in digital health technologies could revolutionise medicine over the next 20 years, specifically⁴:

• 62 per cent of people believe that doctor's appointments will be routinely conducted by virtual reality
• 53 per cent believe that 3D printing will be used to produce human organs
• 41 per cent believe the first cloned human will have been born

Life Sciences Consultant at PA Consulting, Michael Sahyoun, said "The Golden Triangle is gaining momentum in the digital health arena. Fuelled by the research of some of the leading institutions in the world, and by some key government initiatives such as the implementation of the third runway in Heathrow, the new Crossrail and NHS Digital, we anticipate greater cross-collaboration and open innovation between industry players."

Health meets Tech in the Golden Triangle – case studies

• Isansys' patient monitoring platform collects and analyses patients' vital signs and alerts clinicians if a person's health is deteriorating. The system could save £70 million annually for the NHS by allowing medical teams to intervene as soon as problems develop, improve the outcome of treatment for patients, and potentially help avert 6,000 deaths each year.
• 85% of patients don't know about clinical trials and Antidote's app aims to change this. The app matches patients, who may have rare or life threatening diseases, with clinical trials, whilst also helping pharmaceutical companies to find patients to test new drugs on and recently raised £13.7 million to expand the project.
• Olivia is Sense.ly's artificially intelligent virtual nurse who guides patients through their personal healthcare needs 24/7 – directing them to either a 111 clinician, or to schedule a GP appointment, locate clinical services, or get medical information and advice. Patients can book face-to-face appointments through the app or interact with enabled clinicians in real-time, through their mobile devices from virtually anywhere.

Notes to Editors

1. Digital Health in the UK. An Industry study for the Office of Life Sciences. Sep 2015 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/461479/BIS-15-544-digital-health-in-the-uk-an-industry-study-for-the-Office-of-Life-Sciences.pdf.
2. DigitalHealth.London http://digitalhealth.london/
3. Deloitte. How digital technology is transforming health and social care. May 2015 https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/life-sciences-health-care/deloitte-uk-connected-health.pdf
4. MedCity commissioned SMG Insight /YouGov to survey 2,077 British adults. The research took place in June 2016.
5. To view the Digital Health Hub report and bios for MedCity, London & Partners and the Department for International Trade: http://bioeurope.vporoom.com/Medcity