Nanotechnology Now: 17th Column - NanoKTN

If UK nanotechnology expertise is going to be securely embedded in the global market, we need to ensure that UK SMEs are including international business development and collaboration in their sales and marketing plans.

Earlier this year, the Nanotechnology Knowledge Transfer Network (NanoKTN) and the Institute of Nanotechnology (IoN), with funding from the Technology Strategy Board, announced a partnership to encourage and support UK nanotechnology SMEs in international business development. This new collaboration saw the launch of the International NanoMicroClub (INMC), which provides UK SMEs with the opportunity to join missions to major international events.

The INMC provides a platform for UK micro and nanotechnology companies to network and engage internationally with global markets, previously inaccessible due to a lack of funding and resource. The NanoKTN and IoN believe this sort of framework of support in the early stages can make the difference between success and failure and is crucially important to the UK nanotechnology market.

The first of these missions saw five companies from the UK attend the BioPharm America 2010 Conference from the 15th to the 17th of September 2010 in Boston, USA. The mission provided each of the five companies with unique opportunities to develop business in nano-enabled pharmaceuticals. The companies selected to join the first Mission were world class fluid engineering research consultancy, BHR; drug discovery business, Conformetrix; European partner exchange and consultancy organisation, EuropaRx; nanomedicine pharmaceutical company, Nanomerics, and biotech start-up, Point-2-Point Genomics.