The overall aim is to speed up the translation of research into healthcare products and services and attract further investment in the sector as a whole.
At the heart of the cluster will be a series of “Therapeutic Capability” sub-clusters, made up of a small number of academic and National Health Service centres that will provide a point of contact and focus for collaboration with industry in specific disease areas.
The first of these, in immunology and inflammation, with a particular focus on asthma and rheumatoid arthritis, will be the subject of the pilot. The government is advertising for bids and says the sub-cluster will be set up by the summer.
The government also announced that it is progressing with plans to make the impact of research on the economy and society one of the metrics for assessing the quality of publicly-funded research. An study is being carried out, involving 29 universities in five subject areas, of how to implement this, with a report due to be published later this year.
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