The UK’s first start-up incubator specialising in disease treatment and prevention has been launched today (Friday) by Barclays, Capital Enterprise and UCL.
The P4 Precision Medicine programme supports the development of treatments that take into account an individual’s genes, environment and lifestyle, by boosting the growth of healthcare start-ups.
The launch of the programme is part of a wider partnership between Barclays and UCL to support innovation in the healthcare industry.
The first cohort will see 12 of the world’s best precision medicine start-ups complete a six-month programme bringing together industry, healthcare and academia for the first time to create a new ecosystem dedicated to preventative, precise and personalised medicine for all.
Phil Beales, Professor of Medical Genetics at UCL said: “Precision medicine is a new paradigm for disease treatment and prevention that considers an individual’s variability in genes, environment and lifestyle. It is transforming how all patients are being treated. For precision medicine to become the norm, actors from the healthcare, industry and academic sectors must work together to find new solutions.
“This is why partnering with Barclays is such an exciting opportunity in which the best academic and business minds can work together with entrepreneurs to create a new ecosystem where ideas are exchanged and nurtured rather than the typical one-directional information flow common to most accelerators.”
The launch of the P4 Precision Medicine Programme is part of a wider partnership between Barclays and UCL. Future plans include opening a ‘medtech’ Eagle Lab; this would be a co-working collaboration and incubator space dedicated to bringing together medtech start-ups, key industry players and experts to accelerate the exchange of ideas, funding and talent in the growing sector.
Jon Hope, Director of Eagle Labs at Barclays said: “The healthcare sector is ripe for disruption and there is a strong drive to innovate and evolve across the entire supply chain. To help support this growing industry, we’re excited to launch a precision medicine accelerator with UCL.
“By connecting healthtech start-ups to industry experts, ideas and funding, and equipping individuals and businesses with the skills they need to harness new and emerging technology in healthcare, we can play our part in ensuring these ambitious entrepreneurs will be in the best position to succeed.”
The precision medicine approach contrasts with traditional disease treatment and prevention strategies that are developed for the average person with little scope for individual differences to be considered.
Eagle Lab will be based in London, and as well as acting as a central entrepreneurial hub, it will provide residents access to world-class researchers and healthcare partners from UCL paired with on-site business mentors from Barclays and entrepreneurship expertise from Capital Enterprise.
UCL is a member of UCLPartners, one of the largest academic health science partnerships in the world which is committed to driving innovation in healthcare by nurturing the most promising early research discoveries and data science applications. UCLPartners is supporting companies on the P4 Precision Medicine programme to build their business case for eventual uptake by the healthcare system.
The initiative is led jointly at UCL by the School of Life and Medical Sciences and the Faculty of Engineering.
The announcement of the precision medicine accelerator follows the creation of Barclays Ventures in 2018. This new business unit has an independent mandate to grow the Eagle Labs network, as well as deliver new customer experiences at pace and scale, driving growth for communities, business and Barclays.
Links
- Professor Phil Beales' academic profile
- UCL School of Life & Medical Sciences (SLMS)
- UCL Engineering
This communication was first published 12 July 2019 by University College London.
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