Global partnership formalised between Health Innovation Network South London and BioSTL

The Health Innovation Network South London (HIN) has signed an agreement with BioSTL, a life sciences and healthcare investor and venture builder based in St Louis, Missouri. The bilateral partnership formalises a model of collaboration between the two organisations, connecting and leveraging the health innovation ecosystems in England and the US to accelerate innovation for the benefit of patients, staff and the healthcare systems.

The bilateral partnership builds on the DigitalHealth.London Global Alliances initiative, which is boosting the position of London as the place to develop, evaluate and deploy innovative digital health and life sciences solutions. Find out more.

The Health Innovation Network South London (HIN) has signed an agreement with BioSTL, a life sciences and healthcare investor and venture builder based in St Louis, Missouri. The US-based organisation has a 20-year track record of accelerating innovation and transforming care models across the US Midwest.

The bilateral partnership formalises the HIN’s longstanding work with BioSTL, defining new opportunities for collaboration. This includes sharing best practice to help drive innovation in healthcare; deepening relationships to ensure innovators from both countries benefit from expertise and networks; and accelerating better health outcomes through the deployment of evidence-based innovation from across the globe.

Rishi Das-Gupta, Chief Executive for the Health Innovation Network South London, reflects: “The Health Innovation Network South London’s partnership with BioSTL marks an important milestone in our ongoing work supporting UK-based innovators to scale internationally.”

London and St Louis, Missouri, are both home to world-leading universities, thriving life science sectors and established investor networks. By strengthening connections between these ecosystems, we can unlock significant opportunities to leverage knowledge and ideas, accelerate cutting-edge health innovation, and drive real-world benefits for patients and staff across the capital.

“For UK-based innovators, this is particularly important as St Louis is a both a sizeable health economy and a valuable access point to the US healthcare market. St Louis has a population of over 3 million locally, several leading hospitals including Mercy and SSM Health, two internationally recognised universities, and BioSTL, which supports incoming companies.

St. Louis is also a hub for Kansas and Missouri, with a further 7 million people, and is home to Centene and Evernorth, who administer healthcare across the USA and manage around $500 billion in healthcare spend.

American innovators will also benefit from being part of London, one of the largest and most vibrant global health economies with a dense concentration of global universities, life science clusters, investors, a dynamic tech sector and diverse communities offering an unparalleled testbed for innovation.

Perhaps most importantly for Londoners, adopting the world’s best healthcare innovations will improve health outcomes across the capital. We look forward to this exciting new chapter of meaningful collaboration.”

A co-designed model of collaboration

The announcement follows a productive visit to London by a delegation including Global Lead Vijay Chauhan; Healthcare Innovation Advisory Manager Noah Wolthausen; Global Advisor and Managing Director of Health, Washington University in St Louis, Patrick Aguilar; Global Advisor and CEO of Peregrine3, Krischa Winright; and Vice President, Clinical Innovation, Informatics and Precision Medicine, Mercy Hospital, Dr Damon Broyles.

Working with the Department for Business and Trade and Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex, the HIN brought together stakeholders from the UK and US over two days. Together, they explored emerging opportunities in health market access, investment and collaboration, ultimately shaping an effective model for international partnership.

A closing evening reception created valuable opportunities for knowledge exchange and networking, with insights from the UK Department for Business and Trade, London and the South East’s health innovation ecosystems, cutting-edge innovators and the visiting BioSTL delegates.

Driving global growth of UK-born innovation

The agreement builds on the DigitalHealth.London Global Alliances initiative, which is boosting the position of London as the place to develop, evaluate and deploy innovative digital health and life sciences solutions.

Believed to be the first NHS-led programme of its kind, DigitalHealth.London Global Alliances is strengthening mutually beneficial links between London’s digital health and care ecosystem and those in partner cities around the world.

DigitalHealth.London has been at the forefront of the identification, development and deployment of digital health innovations since it was established as a collaboration of NHS, charity and academic partners in 2016.

BioSTL is a US Life Sciences and Healthcare investor and venture builder, based in St Louis, Missouri.  BioSTL Global connects top-tier, innovative health startups with established US hospital systems and insurers that control over $550 billion in purchasing power, representing roughly 12% of US healthcare spending. This platform facilitates rapid adoption of new, cutting-edge technologies in major healthcare institutions. To date, BioSTL has invested $50 million and built 150 health care and AgriFood startups that have raised $3 billion in venture capital. 

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is the UK government department responsible for helping businesses grow, invest, export, and compete internationally. It supports UK companies by promoting trade opportunities abroad, attracting foreign investment into the UK, negotiating trade agreements, and providing practical guidance on exporting, market access, regulations, and business finance.  

Health Innovation Network South London (HIN) is the health innovation network for south London, one of 15 across England. The HIN is a NHS team that connects and collaborates across the NHS, academia, industry, and investors to accelerate the adoption of proven health technologies and pathways that improve health outcomes, increase productivity and generate economic growth.

Want to get involved in the DigitalHealth.London Global programme? Get in touch with us today.