Winners of the Medilink Midlands Business
Awards 2024 revealed
Nine of the most exceptional and innovative life sciences and medtech companies and industry collaborations from across the Midlands have been recognized as winners of the Medilink Midlands Business Awards 2024.
Held at the prestigious Athena in Leicester on 9 May, the Business Awards 2024 were Medilink Midlands’ most spectacular awards event to date and brought together over 200 guests from across the life sciences and medtech sectors in the Midlands.
In celebration of Medilink Midlands’ 20th anniversary, it awarded a £5,000 prize to the ‘winner of winners’ which was presented on the night to Cytecom, winner of the Delivering Innovation into Health and Care award, sponsored by HORIBA. The Coventry-based company is developing a rapid diagnostic test using its cutting-edge optical electrophysiology technology to reduce the time for targeted antibiotic selection from days to seconds.
Winner of the new Sustainability category, sponsored by Mills & Reeve LLP, was Pennine Healthcare – a Derby-based manufacturer and distributor of single-use, sterile, and non-sterile ward and theatre consumables and custom procedure packs. The award recognizes Pennine Healthcare’s commitment to addressing the net zero and sustainability challenges affecting the NHS and the wider medtech community.
Taking the top spot in the Advances in Digital Healthcare category, sponsored by Shakespeare Martineau, was Black Space Technology Ltd. Based at Birmingham Innovation Campus, the company specializes in scalable and future-proofed mobile telemedicine and telehealth solutions.
Selected by the judges as a business that shows great potential in the One to Watch category, was Warwickshire-based Ademen Ltd, which develops breakthrough sensors for gut monitoring, supporting management of IBS and IBD bowel conditions and post-
surgery recovery.
The Export Achievement award, sponsored by JensonR+, went to Nottingham-based contract research organization Cellomatics Biosciences Ltd; the Innovation award, sponsored by TBAT Innovation, awarded to Leicester-based advanced breath-testing company and winner of last year’s One to Watch, Bioxhale Ltd; and the Start-Up award, sponsored by Pioneer Group, presented to Birmingham’s MESOX Ltd, which is transforming pharmaceutical formulation with its game-changing carrier technologies.
In winning positions for the Partnership between Academia and Business award were the Healthcare Technologies Institute (HTI), School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Birmingham (UoB), and Salts Healthcare. The award, sponsored by Arise Innovation Hubs and the Medical Technology Research Centre of Anglia Ruskin University, recognises HTI and Salts Healthcare’s collaborative research to discover new medical device innovations.
Upperton Pharma Solutions, the contract development and manufacturing organization based in Nottingham, scooped the Outstanding Achievement award, sponsored by Charnwood Campus Science Innovation & Technology Park and CPW. The award recognizes Upperton’s construction of a new 50,000 sq ft pharmaceutical development and manufacturing facility in ten months.
Melanie Davidson, Chief Executive of Medilink Midlands, says: “It was fantastic to celebrate the incredible innovations and achievements of life sciences businesses in the region at our special awards event marking Medilink Midlands’ 20th anniversary.
Our congratulations go to the winners and highly commended organizations on their successes, and thanks to our valued sponsors for supporting the event. The caliber of entrants this year has been outstanding and has demonstrated the true breadth and depth of the region’s capabilities across all areas of health, medtech, and life sciences. We were delighted to present our ‘winner of winners’ Cytecom with a £5,000 prize that will help the company to accelerate and progress its diagnostic testing innovation.”
The full line-up of winners and highly commended in the 2024 Awards are:
Advances in Digital Healthcare (sponsored by Shakespeare Martineau)
Winner : Black Space Technology Ltd
Highly commended : Select Research
Delivering Innovation into Health and Care (sponsored by HORIBA)
Winner: Cytecom
Highly commended: Informed Genomics
Export Achievement (sponsored by JensonR+)
Winner: Cellomatics Biosciences
Highly commended: Salts Healthcare
Innovation (sponsored by TBAT Innovation)
Winner: Bioxhale
Highly commended: Neurotherapeutics
One to Watch (selected by Medilink Midlands' independent judging panel)
Winner: Ademen Ltd
Outstanding Achievement (sponsored by Charnwood Campus and CPW)
Winner: Upperton Pharma Solutions
Highly commended: Clinitouch by Spirit Health
Partnership between Academia and Business (sponsored by Arise Innovation Hubs and the Medical Technology Research Centre of Anglia Ruskin University)
Winner: Healthcare Technologies Institute (HTI), School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Birmingham (UoB) and Salts Healthcare
Highly commended: Faculty of Science/School of Psychology University of Nottingham (UON) & Neurotherapeutics
Start-Up (sponsored by Pioneer Group)
Winner: MESOX Ltd
Highly commended: VUIT Data Labs Ltd
Sustainability (sponsored by Mills & Reeve LLP)
Winner: Pennine Healthcare
Highly commended: Zanzo Facilities Management
Medilink Midlands is the Midlands Life Sciences industry association with a vision to stimulate the growth of the Midlands life science sector by helping companies establish, develop and grow.
Its network of more than 5,400 contacts in over 2,600 organisations represents all aspects of the sector: from multi-nationals to high potential start-up companies, as well as the NHS and Universities.
Medilink Midlands helps stimulate additional and value-added growth of the Midlands as a prosperous community for Life Sciences with strategic alliances working in collaboration with the Midlands Engine, Health Innovation West Midlands, Health Innovation East Midlands, Midlands Innovation Health (MI Health), Midlands Health Alliance (MHA), Charnwood Campus, Nottingham City Council and Anglia Ruskin University Innovation Centre (ARU).
With offices across the Midlands, Medilink Midlands has been providing specialist support to boost the region’s economic output from the Life Sciences sector since 2004.
