The Universities of Manchester and Kent have launched The Centre for Advanced Diagnostics Development and Application to accelerate diagnostic innovation.
The University of Manchester will lead an £8.2 million initiative to accelerate diagnostic innovation.
Despite their importance, more than 80% of UK companies developing diagnostics are small and medium enterprises, which often face significant barriers in accessing the technical expertise, resources, and infrastructure needed to bring new products to market.
The Centre for Advanced Diagnostics Development and Application (CADDA) has been set up to foster a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment that bridges academia, industry, the NHS, and regulatory bodies.
The CADDA initiative will harness the strengths of leading institutions in the North and South of England to ensure benefits are distributed across the UK. By providing SMEs with access to essential knowledge, infrastructure, and resources, CADDA will help overcome the fragmentation in the diagnostics sector that often delays innovation and increases costs.
Key stakeholders, including national and local NHS trusts, will be integrated into every aspect of the project to ensure that new diagnostic tools are clinically relevant, ethically sound, and compliant with regulatory standards. This coordinated approach will deliver diagnostics that meet the highest quality standards while addressing urgent healthcare needs.
The project is co-led by Alan Dickson from the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) as well as Mark Smales and Kathy Kotiadis from the University of Kent.
