• Trusted collaborations. Stakeholders recognise the importance of investing in and nurturing a high degree of trust within/between clusters, as well as across different types of partnerships.
• Strong R&D partnerships. Product developers have formed strong research partnerships with leading universities and tap into patient/HCP groups: informing research, evaluating outcomes and providing customer feedback on product/service effectiveness.
• New use of technology. Healthcare providers partner with MedTech and telecom companies to apply the low latency of 5G/edge computing in areas like critical care on demand and remote robotic surgery.

• Skills and talent. Sustainable, trusted partnerships are based on shared mind sets and collaboration skills. Partner organisations have clear strategies to manage conflicts of interest, and leaders have the digital/technical skills required to understand business needs and ‘speak data science’ to experts.
• Funding. National and local governments have established favourable economic environments to drive investment in life sciences R&D. A systematic approach to funding based on public-private partnerships and venture funding encourage innovation at scale.
• Regulations. The use of RWD and aligned objectives help industry comply with regulatory legislation and respond in a coordinated and timely way. Greater alignment of regulators at a national and international level provides a framework to optimise commercial objectives and patient outcome.
• Data and interoperability. Data is the currency on which VBHC partnerships are designed and executed, and patients willingly share health data as part of a value exchange. There’s a consensus among partners on the use of HL7 interoperability standards and a framework enabling shared access to high quality RWE.

• Big tech partnerships. Google’s Verily teamed up with Novartis, Otsuka, Pfizer and Sanofi to improve patient recruitment and retention, and speed up clinical trials. Using Verily’s AI powered research tools (e.g. wearable devices and sensors, EHRs, biometrics and patient reported data) they plan to launch studies in therapeutic areas like cardiovascular disease, dermatology, diabetes, mental health and oncology.
• The Corona Accelerated R&D in Europe (CARE) public-private partnership. CARE is dedicated to discovering and developing treatment options for COVID-19 and new coronavirus threats. It brings together expertise/projects from 37 academic and non-profit research institutions and pharma companies to form a comprehensive drug discovery engine. Exscientia, an AI for drug discovery company, is leading the small molecule drug design activities.

The national and international collaboration triggered by the pandemic has been unprecedented. Public private partnerships between regulators, governments, HCPs, life sciences and tech/consumer health businesses have brought stakeholders together to tackle COVID-19, improve population health, and help economies survive and thrive.

These collaborations quickly refocused efforts and resources to support clinical trials, test new equipment and develop new test, track and trace systems. They also developed innovative digital/virtual care solutions so HCPs could work differently. These collaborations are also helping to tackle the challenges in the medical equipment supply chain (e.g. the manufacture, transportation and distribution of testing kits, PPE and ventilators). Established life sciences clusters were well positioned to face up to the challenge and drive global excellence.

At the start of November 2020, 10 candidates had reached the last phase of clinical development prior to obtaining regulatory approval. The challenge now is how to distribute vaccines worldwide. The WHO (together with Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) launched the COVAX initiative to help build and upscale vaccine manufacturing/supply capabilities to offer countries equitable access to two billion doses by the end of 2021.