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That was the unifying message from a high-profile round-table held at Nexus, University of Leeds, on 5 June. The morning session brought together Health & Social CareSecretary Wes Streeting, West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, Leeds City CouncilChief Executive Ed Whiting, University Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Nick Plant and more than 20 leaders from government, academia, the NHS and industry. MNS’ Founder and CEO Henry Dunne attended as the voice of early-stage innovators.
Chaired by University Vice-Chancellor Professor Shearer West, the discussion explored how Leeds can help deliver the NHS’s three big shifts: hospital to community, analogue to digital and treatment to prevention. Participants agreed those ambitions demand coproduced innovation “rooted in real-world conditions”—something the city’s unified health system and mature cross-sector partnerships are uniquely placed to provide.
For MNS, the morning validated the strategy we are already pursuing:
This integrated “bench-to-bedside” path is enabling our dissolvable microneedle-patch platform to move quickly toward first-in-human studies in January 2026 —while ensuring it is designed for the neighbourhood health models discussed at the round-table.
National and regional leaders also emphasised the importance of early regulatory engagement. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s decision to base its new Digital Innovation Hub in Leeds means companies like ours can shape approval pathways alongside regulators from day one, accelerating safe adoption across the NHS.
We left the session encouraged by the alignment between government priorities and theLeeds ecosystem’s ability to deliver them. MNS looks forward to deepening collaboration with Team Leeds partners—and to proving how a painless,
cold-chain-free vaccine patch can save costs, boost biosecurity and reduce health inequalities in the UK and beyond.
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