Manx Biomed chairman Dave Taggart has welcomed the spirit of collaboration shown at a conference in the island.

Mr Taggart said everyone involved in the biomed event at the Villa Marina, Douglas, was ’extremely pleased.’

The gathering in the Broadway cinema was fully subscribed with more than 170 delegates and speakers from on and off island.

Among the delegate guests were A-Level and baccalaureate science students from island schools. They took an active part in question and answer sessions.

The speaker agenda included a panel discussion on China and potential alliances in health and life sciences.

There was also a debate on investor support for biomed entrepreneurs.

And, as reported in Business News, as a precursor to the forthcoming on-island public consultation, an open debate followed presentations on existing world wide regulatory frameworks for medicinal cannabis.

The day concluded with presentations on new biomed business ideas and opportunities and updates from existing biomed and health and life science companies.

Dave Taggart, chairman of Manx Biomed and board member of the Business Agency told Business News: ’We were extremely pleased with the event this year.

’We heard from a diverse set of experts, all willing to share ideas and information with each other.

’This perfectly embodied the central conference theme of collaboration, which is so central to success in the biomed and health and life science sector.

’We have seen many successful collaborations between clusters of companies over recent years, and more were discussed at the event.

’One of the ways we judge the success of the conference is whether new connections were made, and we know at least two new collaborations are in discussion as a result of the event.

’This kind of quick and deep networking is what the island does best, and hopefully great things will come of it.’

The newly restructured Department for Enterprise supports biomed health and life sciences as a focus sector for the business agency.

Sector manager Mark Gledhill presented an overview of strategy and initiatives the business agency are supporting to help the continued development of the growing cluster.

These include partnerships with the Departmentof Health and Social Care (DHSC) to enable further development of health and life science research and development on island as well as support for the current review of healthcare legislation.

Chairman Dave Taggart

Some of the delegates and speakers at the biomed conference