Scotland’s life science sector is doing well in spite of Brexit and the Scottish Life Sciences Association is working to make synergistic connections to support future growth and innovation.
While life science academia has long been at the core of Scotland – the discovery of penicillin, identifying the link between mosquitos and malaria, the invention of the MRI scanner, the birth place of Dolly the Sheep – the county is now growing by leaps and bounds with start-up medical device companies, as well. Scotland notes vast resources for research and academia, with 19 universities and multiple world leading innovation research centers, but it is lacking in specialty advanced manufacturing resources to support mass production of cutting edge medical devices.
This is where the link between Indiana and Scotland comes into play. Scotland’s population mirrors Indiana’s, not just in size, but similar industry strengths and population health issues. As well as, similar trade organizations working collectively as a voice for their health and life science business community, while connecting key stakeholders to enhance business and advocate member interests.
Indiana Health Industry Forum (IHIF) Reaches Out
The Scotland/Indiana connection all began when the Indiana Health Industry Forum (IHIF) made a networking trip to Scotland and IHIF’s President and CEO, Kristin Jones, met Scottish Life Sciences Association’s Scott Johnstone and along with numerous Scottish biotech, medical device, diagnostic, digital health and research companies actively looking for collaborative partners for product development and manufacturing services.
While on the trip a Scottish medical device OEM mentioned to Jones that his company was in search of a partner that could radio frequency weld a revolutionary single-use multi-layer polyethylene bag. Jones said, “I know a guy.”
Jones’s visit to Scotland was so positive and full of promise that the Scottish Life Sciences Association, along with a group of its business members, scheduled a visit to Indiana to explore collaborative manufacturing partnerships firsthand. One of the stops was a visit to Genesis Plastics Welding.
“We’re all working to improve healthcare, that’s our North Star and end goal,” said Johnstone. “Making connections to fuel innovation – that’s how it all works. This visit has been very positive, and it’s great to see the happiness in the business folks that came with us. We’ll be back before next year.”
Indiana Life Sciences Sector
As a top life sciences cluster within the United States and home to Eli Lilly and Co., Cook Medical, DuPont AgroSciences, Elanco Animal Health, Hill-Rom, Zimmer Biomet, Roche Diagnostics and others, Central Indiana is a perfect location to further synergistic life science relationships and a natural fit for Johnstone’s Scottish stakeholders.
Niche Medical Device Manufacturing and Engineering Services
“Our focus is on high-end specialty medical device products,” said Genesis Plastics Welding President and CEO Tom Ryder. “As heat sealing and RF welding experts, our niche processes are often just what OEMs are searching for to fill a gap and be able to take their innovative products to market. We are proud to support medical device, biotech, biopharma and many others with ISO 13485 certified medical device manufacturing and engineering services.”
Looking to explore ISO 13485:2016 contract manufacturing, clean room manufacturing and/or the RF heat sealing of your thermoplastic product? Reach out our team here.