13th December 2022
MediWales Innovation Awards 2022
Welsh health technology and life science sectors celebrates successful innovation
The winners have been announced for the seventeenth annual MediWales Awards, celebrating outstanding achievements across the Welsh life science and health and care sectors. The awards ceremony was held at the Mercure Holland House Hotel with nearly 400 guests attending from across the UK representing the Welsh NHS, industry and academia. This year the MediWales Innovation Awards were held in partnership with the Life Sciences Hub Wales and supported by Health and Care Research Wales and Welsh Government.
View our MediWales Innovation Awards 2022 Playlist to watch videos about each of our winners and their projects here.
Industry Award Category Winners:
MediWales Innovation Award – Ceryx Medical –The Innovation Award, sponsored by Development Bank Wales, recognises the development of an innovative technology, design and or process that has produced a major improvement in business performance.
Ceryx Medical develop devices that respond to signals from the human body in real time to provide optimised therapy. Ceryx has developed a pacemaker with the ability to restore a healthy heart rhythm. In subjects with severe heart failure, treatment with the Ceryx pacemaker significantly enhanced cardiac function and reversed damage to the heart. Ceryx Medical has signed a collaboration agreement with Osypka Medical, to deliver a “first-in-human” clinical study with Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
MediWales Partnership with the NHS Award – Llusern Scientific – The Partnership with the NHS Award, sponsored by GX, recognises the development of a partnership or collaboration with the NHS that has, or will have, a major impact on business performance and has benefited patient care within the NHS.
Llusern Scientific specialises in easy-to-use, portable, point-of-care diagnostics. The company has worked with NHS Wales, on the development of its technology, since it was established. They co-lead, a Bevan Commission funded project, with Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, with Public Health Wales and Tritech Institute focusing on the development of their Urinary Tract Infection test.
MediWales Start-Up Award – Copner Biotech – The Start-Up Award, sponsored by Cytiva, is presented to the newly established company, in the helth technology sector, that shows the most promising future. Applicants must hae been trading no more than 3 years.
Established in 2020 Copner Biotech is a biotechnology start-up focused on the development of novel 3D cell culture technologies. The company has developed a range of products, including off the shelf 3D scaffolds, and next generation hardware and software for bioprinting. The company has built an extensive portfolio of Intellectual Property, as well as distribution networks for its products in the UK and Switzerland. The company has also secured SMART Cymru and Innovate UK funding.
MediWales Outstanding Achievement Award – Creo Medical – The Outstanding Achievement Award, sponsored by Abel and Imray, is presented to a company for an achievement that has had a significant, vital, impact on their success.
Creo Medical is an advanced energy technology company who develop minimally invasive devices which provide endoscopic treatment solutions, when they would have previously required surgery. Over the first half of 2022, the number of clinicians receiving training on Creo’s technology doubled compared to the previous six months, with a 100% increase in both the volume of procedures and regular users of their Speedboat product over the same period. Creo have also this year signed long-term collaboration agreements with robotics giants Intuitive and CMR, with both looking to bring Creo’s advanced Energy technology to the fast-growing world of robotic-assisted surgery.
MediWales Export Achievement Award – Brainbox – The Export Achievement Award, sponsored by Welsh Government Department for International Trade, is for maximising opportunities to exploit and develop new markets or outstanding performance in other areas of international trade.
Brainbox is a leading global provider of integrated, non-invasive brain stimulation and brain imaging solutions for neuroscience research. As integration specialists with decades of first-hand experience and a collaborative approach with customers and manufacturers to develop and implement cutting-edge technologies and solutions, Brainbox enable world-class neuroscience research in both clinical and academic environments. During challenging international trading conditions, Brainbox has increased export sales by over 22.5% in the last year.
MediWales Industry Judges Award – ImmunoServ – The Industry Judges’ Award, sponsored by Teamworks Design, is presented to the company who, across all industry categories, demonstrate success and capture the spirit of the MediWales Innovation Awards.
Established in October 2020, ImmunoServ is a Cardiff based contract research company specialising in the fields of immunology, immunotherapeutics, vaccine research, and immune monitoring. ImmunoServ was founded by experts in immunology. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic ImmunoServ’s T cell test has supported research into COVID-19 immunity, vaccine effectiveness and treatment of patients with COVID-19. Their finger prick T cell test shows who is most at risk of COVID-19.
Industry Highly Commended Applicants:
CanSense
Purolite
Respiratory Innovation Wales
CellPath
Imspex Diagnostics
Health and Social Care Award Category Winners:
MediWales Scaling Up Innovation and Transformation Award – Swansea Bay University Health Board – The Scaling up Innovation and Transformation Award, sponsored by Huntleigh, is to recognise a change in initiative that has led to the positive, sustainedtransformation of a health or social care service, model or technology that has demonstrated impact through being shared and implemented at scale, enablingothers to benefit from the innovation and the lessons learnt along the way.
The National Cellulitis Programme hosted by Swansea Bay University Health Board. Since March 2020, patients admitted into Welsh hospitals with Cellulitis are contacted for a clinical appointment to increase cellulitis awareness, provide interventions to improve outcomes, and reduce recurrence and pressure on unscheduled care. Outcomes are collected, including the newly developed CELLUPROM, patient reported outcome measure for cellulitis. This innovation has considerably decreased repeated cellulitis episodes from 5,432 to 47. This equates to over £10 million of avoidance costs.
MediWales Health and Social Care Research Partnership with Industry Award – Cardiff and Vale University Health Board – The Health and Social Care Research Partnership with Industry Award, sponsored by Health and Care Research Wales, is for the team who have partnered with infustry to deliver a project or developed a collaboration with a particular focus on health or social care research.
Cardiff & Vale University Health Board, Supportive Care Service, new model of care for advanced heart failure patients, has demonstrated improved patient experience, reduced hospital admissions and support for patients to die at home. Use of continuous subcutaneous furosemide infusions in the community for patients, who might otherwise be repeatedly readmitted, is recognised as an effective method of palliation. In collaboration with Vygon and Pharmacy the Service has developed a pre-prepared infusion, allowing a continuous seven-day infusion of furosemide via accufuser elastomeric ambulatory pumps.
MediWales Technology and Digital Impact Award – Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust – The Technology and Digital Impact Award, sponsored by FujiFilm, celebrates Technology and Digital innovations from across health and care that are having a positive impact on people in Wales.
Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust have implemented new clinical decision support software in 999 call centres to support nurses, paramedics, and mental health clinicians to consult patients remotely. The LowCode/ECNS system uses evidence-based algorithms to support clinicians to work remotely using phone and video. Many patients calling 999 do not require an emergency ambulance. Therefore, it is key to ensure that clinicians can safely consult patients remotely. This implementation replaces 53 stand-alone pieces of paper used to triage, assess, and refer patients who call 999 but for whom an ambulance was not suitable.
“It’s integrated with our existing systems, and we in WAST are using this particular tool in a novel way, which no other agency in the world is doing.” – Mike Brady
MediWales NHS Wales Working with Industry Award – Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board – The NHS Wales, Working with Industry Award, sponsored by Life Sciences Hub Wales, recognises NHS Wale personnel who have collaborated with industry on a project that has resulted in major impact and benefit.
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, has worked closely with Zimmer Biomet to introduce the MyMobility digital application for patients awaiting arthroplasty surgery. The MyMobility application is used to support patients by providing customisable prehabilitation and post-surgery rehabilitation, in the form of videos and instructional guides, to ensure that patients are medically optimised throughout their joint replacement journey. Mymobility offers a two-way communication channel between the patient and a multi-disciplinary clinical team to ensure appropriate and timely advice.
MediWales Social Care Innovation through Collaboration – Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board & Denbighshire Council – The Social Care Innovation Through Collaboration Award, sponsored by Health Technology Wales, is an open category for NHS Wales, Industry, Third Sector, Local Authority or Academia, for personnel who have collaborated to innovate on a social care project that has resulted in major impact and benefit.
The ‘Missing Boys’ project arose from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board CAMHS Targeted Intervention Programme, partnering with Education Services in Denbighshire, who use local educational networks to offer boys and young men male-friendly counselling and psychotherapy that draws on the theory of Eco or ‘Walk & Talk’ therapy, where the therapeutic intervention is centred around shared activity, often taking place outdoors. A ‘call for innovation’ was issued to partners to share their ideas for innovative ways to support prevention or early intervention and access to support services. ‘Missing Boys’ is one of the success stories from this programme.
MediWales Health and Social Care Judges Award – Digital Health and Care Wales – The Health and Social Care Judges’ Award, sponsored by Lifescience Industry Magazine, is awarded to the application across all health and social care categories that best captures the spirit of the MediWales Innovation Awards.
The Welsh Nursing Care Record is a digital system that is transforming the way nurses record, store, share and access patient information. Rather than using paper documents, nurses use digital devices to capture information and store it securely, so that caregivers all have access to the same, up-to-date information. By going digital with the Welsh Nursing Care Record, nurses have reported feeling more positive about documenting care.
Health and Social Care Highly Commended Applicants:
All Wales Medical Genomics Service
TEC Cymru with Vale of Glamorgan Council
TriTech Institute with Haelu
SBRI Centre of Excellence at BC UHB
The National Robotics Assisted Surgery Programme (C&V, BC & CMR Surgical)
Swansea Bay UHB (Minuteful For Wound)
C&V UHB Physiotherapy with Cardiff Cap Region, Rescape and NudgeReality
Gwyn Tudor, CEO, MediWales: “We are delighted to have worked with our partners to support and showcase creativity and collaboration in our sector. Health and care organisations have been under considerable pressure this year and still face significant challenges. The MediWales Innovation Awards recognises the contribution innovation and partnerships can play in supporting this vital effort.”