HEALTH technology has won a £1.5million cash injection to create more jobs and winning ideas.

The sector covering pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and diagnostics is already one of the most successful in Kent and the South East.

Experts hope to build on that success by forming the South East Health Technologies Alliance (SEHTA).

The first of its kind in the UK, it has the Government’s blessing and aims to boost small and medium sized companies.

Senior people from leading Kent-based firms like Pfizer in Sandwich, and Genzyme in Kings Hill, West Malling, have joined an influential SEHTA board.

Director Dr Eliot Forster, Pfizer’s development vice president, welcomed the project.

He said: "SEHTA will make a big impact on the way business support and advice is delivered to the region’s various health technologies companies.

"We are very excited about the direction SEHTA is taking and believe it will be a model that other regions will look to."

Dr David Parry, SEHTA chief executive based at Kings Hill, is focusing on ambitious small companies.

"A lot of innovation comes from those small bright young companies who are looking for the next invention, the next technology that will drive them on."

He added: "The UK’s health technologies sector is the most successful in the world and south east England is the driving force behind this success."

The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) is pumping £750,000 into the project over three years, with a similar sum coming from Europe and other sources.

DTI grants are on offer to firms, as well as free training, mentoring, business planning and public relations advice.Around 1,000 health technology and bioscience companies in the south east employ around 50,000 people, many in Kent.

Research and development investment amounts to £1 billion, much of it from Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, which has a large operation in Dartford.

"We want to increase performance through our intervention," Dr Parry added.

He claimed that the creation of a world-renowned regional cluster would also encourage more overseas companies to invest in Kent.

"Bioscience in Kent is strong and could get stronger."

Science minister Lord Sainsbury said health technology was vitally important for the health and economy of the UK.