BioSTL Global has entered into a new partnership with three Health Innovation Networks serving England's National Health Service (NHS), creating a direct connection between St. Louis’ globally recognized hub for digital healthcare innovation and one of the world's largest healthcare systems.
While the agreement will help U.K. companies entering the U.S. marketplace, it also represents something larger for the region itself: growing international recognition of St. Louis as a destination for healthcare innovation, commercialization, and market adoption.
The BioSTL delegation telling an audience of innovators with a London-area Healthcare Innovation Network (HIN) about the benefits of starting digital healthcare companies in St. Louis. From left to right: Damon Broyles, M.D., vice president, clinical innovation, informatics, and precision medicine at Mercy; Patrick Aguilar, M.D., professor and managing director of health, Olin Business School at Washington University; Krischa Winright, CEO, penegrine3 AI healthcare advisory firm; Noah Wolthausen, head of healthcare innovation at BioSTL, and Vijay Chauhan, BioSTL Global lead.
“From the first time I was introduced to them, BioSTL’s approach and capabilities as an innovation and growth engine have struck me as being unique and best-in-class, not to mention an absolute pleasure to work with,” said Madhukar Bose, head of Digital Health for the U.K.’s Department of Business and Trade. “The collaboration will undoubtedly create opportunities for innovators in England and St Louis to solve the pressing health challenges our respective health systems face. “
U.K. startups that participate will gain the opportunity to engage in the healthcare marketplace in a number of ways, including through BioSTL’s Center for Rural Health Innovation and Healthcare AI Collaborative. The programs connect rural healthcare providers in the greater region with innovators addressing their specific needs, including for responsible AI and remote patient monitoring and management tools. They will also have the opportunity to attend this year’s annual BioSTL Global Health Innovation Summit, scheduled for Oct. 6-8 in St. Louis.
Chauhan and Rishi Das-Gupta, CEO of South London’s HIN, sign a bilaterial memorandum of understanding, one of three signed by BioSTL and HINs establishing St. Louis as a lunch pad for U.K. startups in digital healthcare.
BioSTL Global Lead Vijay Chauhan recently returned from leading a St. Louis delegation to London, York, Manchester and Warwick, where he signed a memorandum of understanding with local HIN leaders. The group also met with their U.K. counterparts and new companies interested in the U.S. market, and participated in the U.K.’s biggest healthcare-innovation conference, NHS ConFed Expo. The delegation included health innovation leaders from Mercy, Washington University in St. Louis, and the healthcare-AI industry.
For St. Louis, the agreement creates opportunities to attract high-potential digital health startups, strengthen relationships with international healthcare leaders, and expand the region's role in the global innovation economy. It also builds on BioSTL Global's broader strategy of developing partnerships with leading innovation ecosystems around the world and connecting those networks to the region's healthcare, research, and entrepreneurial strengths.