An innovation lab set up in the North East during the coronavirus pandemic has celebrated its first anniversary with a string of contracts and other partnerships.
The lab at The Biosphere, at Newcastle Helix, is supported by the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
It brings together a partnership of local universities, healthcare organisations and private businesses to bring new approaches and technology to mainstream use, and accelerate the development of the next generation of virus testing.
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Since launching in January 2021, the lab has engaged with over 70 organisations, 58 of which are in the 海角视频 but with engagements also in the USA and Australia. It has 21 contracts in place with 12 companies.
The facility works with small, medium and large companies who are at different stages of developing new diagnostic approaches and may be experiencing challenges accessing what is needed for the next stage of evaluation.
Dr John Tyson, head of the Innovation lab, said: “We have created a unique service that offers an ‘open door’ to test developers and researchers and we are here to support organisations in evaluating and validating their new tests.
“It’s really important that new diagnostics and technologies are thoroughly tested using the correct approaches.
“We have found our offer is much needed, particularly as we can provide access to carefully classified Covid samples and material, which can be difficult to obtain.”
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The innovation lab was announced at the same time as a Lighthouse Lab in Gateshead, which has carried out more than 5m PCR tests and recently appealed for more staff as it saw a surge in demand. It works with the Lighthouse lab, which has helped to develop a biobank of 15,000 Covid-19 samples.
Work taking place at the innovation lab is helping to not only tackle the current pandemic but also ensure diagnostics stay a step ahead of future virus threats. The lab’s work includes environmental surveillance, oncology and wider infectious diseases.
Dr Tyson said: “As the pandemic one day subsides, we should capitalise on the progress that has been made in diagnostics. We want to continue to support the development of new tests so they are of higher quality and can be more widely accessed.”