Guidance

Infectious diseases: develop diagnostics in the UK

Published 15 October 2018

The UK is a global leader in infectious diseases diagnostics (IDD).

UK innovation in IDD

The UK has a long history of innovation in the area of infectious diseases and IDD.

UK discoveries include:

• the world’s first vaccine
• the world’s first antibiotic
• development of innovative rapid point of care tests

UK companies continue to develop and commercialise world leading products in this field.

IDD product development in the UK

The UK is a leader in the global fight against infectious diseases, with an ambitious cross-government 5 year antimicrobial resistance (AMR) strategy. The UK supports a unique ecosystem for UK companies to research, test and deliver, new diagnostic products.

This is evidenced by:

• the UK’s £1 billion Ross Fund
• a significant UK contribution to the Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF)
• a £265 million UK investment in the Fleming Fund
• £195 million funding to a collaboration programme, with Wellcome Trust and other global institutions, on AMR
• the Innovation Agency’s competition funding for small companies

Specialist research centres in the UK

The UK’s thriving diagnostics industry fully exploits the UK’s world leading research centres. These include 2 of the world’s top schools of tropical medicine.

The Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research at St Thomas’s Hospital, London has worked with Enigma Diagnostics to develop rapid PCR tests. The Centre of Excellence in Infectious Diseases Research in Liverpool is engaging with companies to progress diagnostics in the areas of malaria, TB, HIV, NTDs, sepsis, and c. difficile.

Genomics England is the largest national sequencing project of its kind in the world. It is sequencing 100,000 genomes from 70,000 patients, providing a valuable resource for diagnostics development, particularly in areas such as liquid biopsies.

Clinical research infrastructure in the UK

UK diagnostic companies benefit from the world’s most integrated clinical research infrastructure, with the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), facilitating the fast tracking of clinical studies to accelerate market entry.

The NIHR in vitro diagnostic evidence co-operatives, located in the main university hospitals, also assist diagnostic companies with the design and evaluation of new diagnostic tests.

IDD centres in the UK

In addition to attracting some of the world’s leading IDD companies such as Abbott, Roche, and Diasorin, the UK is also home to a multitude of new high-tech start-up companies.

Supported by university and clinical research centres, start-up companies are driving developments in areas such as:

• nanopore sequencing (Oxford Nanopore)
• semiconductor microchips (DNAe)
• mobile phone connectivity (iSense)

DNAe secured over $50 million from a US institution to further develop its semiconductor DNA sequencing platform for rapid diagnosis of antimicrobial resistant infections and influenza. These are 2 of the most significant threats to global health.

Contact Life Sciences Organisation (LSO)

LSO is made up of a mixed team of civil servants and private sector specialists based in the UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT).

It provides support for:

• UK life sciences companies doing business overseas
• foreign life sciences companies wanting to invest in the UK

Contact LSO for more information on commercial opportunities in the UK’s life sciences sector.

You can find out more about investing in the UK at great.gov.uk.