Four of the UK’s National Health Service hospitals and a leading university there disclosed plans for a £2 billion business partnership to create the largest biomedical research organization in Europe. The venture — to be called UCL Partners — seeks to establish London as an intellectual powerhouse for the invention of new drugs and treatments. It is being set up by University College London, its sister facility UCL Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Royal Free Hampstead Hospital. The five organizations have combined revenues of about £2 billion. They treat more than 1.5 million patients a year and employ more than 3,500 scientists, senior researchers and consultants. In a joint statement, the partners said: “By pooling resources and expertise we will be able to produce more world-class research in key areas, including cancer and heart disease, and deliver the benefits more rapidly to patients.” The partnership is designed to address concern that Britain will not be able to compete in a global research market without stronger collaboration between academic and healthcare institutions. The UCL partnership will become operational next month, focusing initially on nervous system diseases, children’s health, heart disease, transplantation, immunology, ophthalmology, deafness and hearing impairment, dental and oral disease, cancer, and women’s health. “We have chosen to concentrate on these areas because in all of them we are already leading the way in the UK or Europe,” said Malcolm Grant, president and provost of UCL. “Our goal is to build on that reputation and become genuinely world-class in as many of those areas as possible.” Go to: The Guardian

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