Bristol's scientific talent win entrepreneurship prize
A team of researchers from the University of
Bristol have won an award in a national competition that rewards
exceptional entrepreneurial skills.
The annual Biotechnology YES competition, hosted by the
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and
the University of Nottingham Institute for Enterprise and
Innovation (UNIEI), involved teams of early-career researchers
pitching their ideas for a hypothetical product and company to a
panel of investors.
The multi-disciplinary team, comprising of mathematician, Chris
Joyner, bioscientist, Graham Britton, chemists, Daniel Carew and
Rebecca Rice, pitched their ideas for a hypothetical product called
AviFilter, a novel medical device to treat Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
The device works by removing disease-causing white blood cells from
the blood without any of the side effects associated with exisiting
therapies.
Together, they pitched their ideas against 13 other teams and
won the award for 'best healthcare business plan', one of six
'Biotechnology YES awards', sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline.