Alan Barrell, a leading businessman in the eastern region, is to head up the board of a new company aiming to turn exciting new concepts or products developed in the NHS into commercial ventures.

Health Enterprise East has been designed to unlock the full potential of ideas and innovations that exist within the NHS, but are currently not being commercialised.

It has been awarded £500,000 by the government and a further £500,000 by the Department of Health following a bid led by Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire on behalf of the 68 NHS Trusts in the eastern region.

The initiative is also expected to be awarded funding by the East of England Development Agency to enable the creation of a further enterprise hub with a life sciences focus.

Alan Barrell, former chief-executive of Baxter UK, part of the internationally renowned health technology company Baxter Healthcare, has taken up the role of chairman of Health Enterprise East and is looking forward to using his wide-ranging experience to make the initiative a success.

He has worked in the NHS as a biomedical scientist and also founded the Cambridge Gateway Fund, a £35m venture fund for technology-based industries.

"There is a tremendous amount of creativity and innovation within NHS organisations in the East of England, but up until now there has not been the support to allow NHS practitioners to exploit their ideas for use beyond their own organisations," said Alan.

"Health Enterprise East is here to make that happen. We are aiming to create jobs and spin-out businesses which can benefit the region's economy and by exploiting concepts and intellectual property we will also be offering the NHS the chance to benefit from alternative revenue streams and improve patient care."

Published Monday August 9, 2004

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