I love the simple Cambridge Network strapline which states, “Cambridge ideas change the world”.

Thanks to the cluster of innovative technology and biomedical companies based in and around the university city, and the brilliant minds behind many of them, this continues to be the case, and I feel so very privileged to meet and work with some of them.

Cambridge should certainly be celebrating today as its ideas continue to change the world. This follows an announcement by the Technology Strategy Board and Medical Research Council hat five pioneering Cambridge biomedical companies have been awarded grants from their Biomedical Catalyst fund – they are among 32 companies in the UK sharing £39 million funding – to accelerate development of new healthcare technology. Four of these companies are based on the Cambridge Science Park, including Arecor, a biotech company I am working with which awarded £785,000.

Arecor’s unique patented technology demonstrates proof of concept which enables the development of future therapeutic medicines which are more convenient for patients to use and can be self-administered in their own homes, vastly reduce future healthcare costs. For example, instead of a patient being given medication through a hospital trip, this will be available in a concentrated form via a small pre-filled syringe which the patient can use at home. Arecor’s technologies have the potential to revolutionise the development, use and distribution of the next generation of therapeutic medicines.

Tom Saylor, (pic) CEO of Arecor, said the award will go towards a £1.3 million project to drive forward their innovative research:

“Arecor is delighted to have been awarded an inaugural Biomedical Catalysts funding from the Technology Strategy Board which justifies our position as a leader in the field of stable aqueous formulation and confidence in our platform for stabilising anitbody therapies at high concentration, as well as  recognising the expertise of our dedicated scientists.”