HC Deb 03 February 1995 vol 253 cc901-2W
Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answers of 27 January,Official Report, column 422, if he will give the date on which the application for assistance under the small firms merit award for research and technology programme was received from Meditech Research, later renamed Implant Research Technology; when it was approved; what was the relevance of the professional and research qualifications of the appraisal team advising him on the application; what specialist advisers in (a) other Government Departments, (b) the research establishments and (c) the Patent Office were consulted; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Redwood

The Welsh Office received an entry form for the 1992 SMART stage 1 competition from Mr. Alan Jones on 24 April 1992. The project's objective was to produce a small microchip device that could be implanted into damaged areas of the body at nerve junctions, thus offering a treatment for diseases such as muscular dystrophy and Parkinson's disease. Mr. Jones's company, Meditech, had not at that time been formed.

Because no member of the competition judging panel had formal qualifications in biotechnology, specialist professional advice was sought from the DTI's biotechnology unit, then located at the Laboratory of the Government Chemist. The Patent Office was also consulted. Both departments had SMART liaison officers through whom these requests for advice were routinely channelled.

Having considered the comments received and acknowledging the technological risks involved, my officials recommended to the Department of Trade and Industry that an award be made. This recommendation was assessed and accepted and a formal offer of support was sent from the DTI to Mr. Jones on 7 September [992.

The purpose of the SMART competition—stage I—is to enable individuals and small companies to undertake practical feasibility studies of innovative projects which cannot attract full private sector financial support because of the high degree of risk involved. Naturally, some feasibility studies, as in the case of Mr. Jones's implant project, demonstrate that the difficulties are greater than originally anticipated and therefore preclude immediate commercial exploitation.