Our Head of Inward Investment for Life Sciences and Healthcare, Andrea Winders, recently visited Hyderabad, India, and Singapore with a team from Health Innovation Manchester in a joint mission.

INDIA

MIDAS’ aim was to build relationships with large manufacturing organisations, innovators, biotechnology companies, and hospital groups, with the aim of attracting innovative organisations to the city-region. 

The joint mission started in Hyderabad with meetings at Apollo Hospitals (a large hospital chain in India) with Ishita Shively, Rahul Khandewal and Vice President Dr Sujay Kar. The hospital group has already partnered with the University of Buckingham to create a centre of excellence for healthcare and research in Crewe, and the hope is to extend the reach to include Greater Manchester.  

The host and organiser in Hyderabad, T-Hub, arranged a programme highlighting the exciting plans for future Manchester-Hyderabad collaborations. 

On the second day in Hyderabad, we, alongside Health Innovation Manchester, visited IKP Knowledge Park to meet with business and colleagues: Bindu Nishal, Mayank Bhanti, and Ramadan Rau meeting a collection of entrepreneurs and innovators in biotech. The day concluded with a DBT reception at the Ambassador’s Residence where the British Deputy High Commissioner to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Gareth Wynn Owen, and Richard McCallum of UK India Business Council presented and discussed the business links between the two regions. 

On day three we met with a variety of exciting start-ups and businesses alongside Health Innovation Manchester at T-Hub, with some including Onward Assist, Cliniv Health Tech, Multiplier AI, and Sta Twig. A meeting with the CRAMSN Research Park team followed, at their stunning new facility in Hyderabad where it was great to see Dr.Vijayavitthal T. Mathad and Kiron Michael again to discuss plans for Manchester. Andrea rounded off the day back at T-hub to meet with SMEs and stakeholders and be part of a “fireside” chat audience. 

On the final day in India, we visited Dr Reddy’s Institute of Life Sciences, where she met with the team and learnt about their fascinating, innovative work in drug discovery and process flow, using Zebrafish embryos as an alternative to mammals in research.

Singapore

The next leg of our mission was Singapore, was a meeting at the ALICE Lee Innovation Centre of SingHealth where we saw how innovations were integrated into healthcare pathways at pace, and how automation, such as patient/visitor registration and service robots reduce demand on staff time to improve care while realising cost savings.  

The final day of our mission, courtesy of Enterprise Singapore, we met with businesses, including Ando Medcare, Credo Diagnostics, and Moon Technologies. The final meeting of the trip was with Clavyst Bio in conjunction with Health Innovation Manchester’s Chief Commercial Officer, Sameer Kothari, where fruitful discussions around building innovation eco systems, investment, and collaboration where had. 

A special thank you to Preethi Madda and T-Hub for putting together this well-orchestrated programme in our time in Hyderabad. 

These new connections reinforce Greater Manchester’s reputation as a hub for healthcare innovation and set the stage for meaningful future collaborations.