A professional life science network in the county is nearing opening.

BioGateway is an initiative pushed by Locate in Kent and will encompass around 149 companies and over 6,200 employees who contribute to the medical industry in Kent.

Combining elements such diagnostic products, pharmaceutical and medical devices, the idea was introduced in October and will open later this month.

It is the brainchild of investment group Locate in Kent and Kent County Council, who worked with a consortium of 20 life science businesses and their advisors, attracting Pfizer and Kreston Reeves as foundation partners.

Companies who will join together contribute hugely to the medical industry, creating products including medical drugs, devices such as asthma inhalers and monitors.

The most attractive concept for companies and sponsors is the location – being the home to a number of high profile names in the life science sector, Kent is without a platform which offers these members an opportunity to work together.

Chief operating officer at BioGateway Alex Watson said that the introduction of this network to the county is important simply due to the fact there is a gap in the market as Kent does not have one.

“One of the key things we discovered is that there is an enormous number of life science networks throughout Europe, I’ve spoken with some of the people in these networks who see the opportunities Kent offers, and they’re really enthusiastic about getting involved.

“A lot of the time they will need to travel as far as Oxford and Cambridge, where a lot of the networks in the UK are based – a number of representatives expressed the interest of having one nearer to the channel.”

“The links the county has to Europe and London are second to none, it’s a massively attractive prospect and a reason we have had such overwhelming response since voicing the idea back in October” he added.

There will be four categories of membership for BioGateway, including not-for-profit membership, the companies which qualify for this include academic and research institutions, health advocacy groups and economic development groups, among others.

The other memberships are corporate, associate and individual.

BioGateway will host a launch day at Discovery Park, Sandwich, on June 23, where a number of key note speakers will talk at the event, including Mark Treherne, the CEO of UK Trade and Investment Life Science Network and vice president for Pfizer, Tom Dolan.