The Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA) and UK Israel Tech Hub are celebrating as more than 30 Israeli companies have accessed support to help bring health and medical technology innovations to the North of England in the last year.

A strong pipeline of healthcare companies in Israel have engaged with the NHSA in the 12 months since a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the NHSA and Israel was signed.

The joint-working arrangement with the UK Israel Tech Hub was signed by the NHSA and British Ambassador to Israel David Quarrey at last year’s MIXiii-Biomed conference.

The aim of the partnership was to increase collaboration between the two countries by offering support to Israeli healthcare companies to establish research and a presence in the UK, specifically in the North of England.

Israel’s entrepreneurial culture and technical expertise make it an obvious place for the NHSA to streamline the best healthcare technologies to the UK.

In the 12 months since the MoU, the NHSA has worked with 33 Israeli companies spanning the medtech, digital health and precision medicine sectors. The support provided ranged from advice on the UK health sector, evidence generation and clinical trials in the UK to building a UK value proposition.

As a result of these interactions, there has been three submissions to conduct research and development in the North with a UK partner organisation and three proposals to run an evaluation or clinical trial in the region.

Keith Miller, Head of Corporate Engagement at NHSA, said: “We have been delighted with the level of interest and enthusiasm from the Israeli companies we have worked with during the last year.

“Israel has a thriving life sciences industry that is generating exciting healthcare innovations that have the potential to benefit patients here in the North of England and the UK. The MoU has played a pivotal role in deepening links between the North and Israel, which has helped us build a strong continuous pipeline of healthcare companies from one of the most innovative countries direct to the North of England.”

The NHSA returned to MIXiii-Biomed in Tel Aviv this month as, together with UK Israel Tech Hub and the UK BioIndustry Association, it led its first delegation of northern life sciences organisations to the leading medtech conference.

Made up of academics, industry and healthcare professionals, the delegation included representatives from NIHR Clinical Research Network, The AMR Centre, based at Alderley Park, Cheshire, Manchester Science Partnerships, Leeds University, and the Northern Powerhouse at the Department for International Trade.

Samuel Cronin, Healthcare Innovation Manager at the UK Israel Tech Hub, said: “We are delighted to be working alongside the NHSA and to build together lasting bridges between organisations in the UK and Israel. We hope these 30 and more Israeli companies will lead the way to more opportunities for strategic innovation partnerships between the two nations and to help support the UK’s healthcare system in the future.”

Israel has a thriving life sciences industry, boasting more than 1,400 healthcare start-ups. It’s the world leader in the number of medical device patents per capita, and second in biopharmaceuticals.

As part of the MoU agreement, the NHSA provides support to the Israeli companies identified by UK Israel Tech Hub to access the UK clinical research environment in the North of England. This will support companies to build a business case for their technology when entering the UK, helping them to engage with health research professionals, health economic teams and clinical expertise for the development and validation of their technology within a NHS health system.

The UK Israel Tech Hub will support and help in accessing and identify funding for Israeli companies to secure partnerships with the UK clinical research environment in the North of England, as well as support the developing partnerships and collaborations via the NHSA.