In this blog, Dr. Gino Miele, CEO of genedrive plc, discusses why Greater Manchester could shape the future of diagnostics and prevention-led care.

Greater Manchester has long been a centre for scientific discovery. What is changing now is its ability to turn that innovation into practical benefits for patients, and to do it at scale.

This was underlined with the designation of Greater Manchester as a Prevention Demonstrator earlier in 2026, creating an opportunity to ensure proven innovations reach patients faster and more consistently, improving patient outcomes, reducing pressure on the NHS, freeing clinical capacity and supporting the shift from treatment to prevention. It will remain to be seen how Andy Burnham’s new Government drives this work forward in the months and years ahead.

A unique health innovation ecosystem 

At the heart of the region’s success to date is a uniquely integrated ecosystem. World-class universities, one of the UK’s largest NHS trusts, supportive civic leadership and a dense network of home-grown life sciences companies sit side by side along the Oxford Road Corridor. This proximity enables collaboration to move beyond strategy into day-to-day practice, supported by a 3 million-strong integrated care record, the GM Care Record, that allows real-world evidence to be generated alongside clinical use.

Collaboration between entrepreneurial, forward thinking and solutions-focused clinical academics at the University of Manchester helped foster the evolution of genedrive plc, a company now focused on rapid pharmacogenetic testing. Today, these technologies are enabling time-critical treatment decisions in stroke and neonatal care, helping to prevent avoidable harm before it occurs.

A fertile testing ground  

As the NHS shifts from treatment to prevention, the regions that lead will be those that can integrate preventive diagnostics into routine care, not just as pilots. Greater Manchester’s devolved leadership, together with expert-led support organisations like Health Innovation Manchester (HInM), has the potential to create the conditions to align policy, clinical practice, and industry to support adoption at scale.

One powerful example of this is the rapid point-of-care test, developed by researchers at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) and The University of Manchester in collaboration with genedrive plc. The test identifies newborns who are genetically vulnerable to hearing loss when treated with the commonly used antibiotic gentamicin. HInM played a pivotal role in bringing this innovation into neonatal care, providing the funding, expertise and support needed to embed it into routine clinical practice in maternity settings across Greater Manchester.

What began as a Greater Manchester-led innovation is now delivering impact nationally, with more than 12,000 babies tested across the UK and approximately 40 babies protected from antibiotic-induced hearing loss to date. Successful rollout in Manchester has also paved the way for a national assessment, supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Office for Life Sciences, to consider wider NHS adoption, with results expected in October 2026.

Scaling up for the future 

The challenge now is to ensure that this progress is sustained and replicated. Without clear and consistent pathways for implementation, even the most effective innovations risk being slowed by fragmentation and local variation.

Greater Manchester is moving beyond being a genomics pioneer, with the potential to demonstrate what prevention-led, precision medicine can look like at scale.

About genedrive plc: 

genedrive plc is a pharmacogenetic testing company developing and commercialising a rapid and simple to use point of need pharmacogenetic platform for the diagnosis of genetic variants. Based in Manchester, the Company is at the forefront of Point of Care pharmacogenetic testing in emergency healthcare.

Pharmacogenetics informs how your individual genetics impact a medicines ability to work for you. Therefore, by using pharmacogenetics, medicine choices can be personalised, made safer and more effective.

About the DEVOTE Programme:

The Development and Validation of Technology for Time Critical Genomic Testing (DEVOTE) Programme brings together academic, industry and clinical partners from across the region, and aims to create societal and economic impact by realising the potential of genomic testing for all.