It has been a busy couple of months for the Boots Centre for Innovation having aided with the launches of two interesting new products into Boots Stores, as well as talking part in two events, in Glasgow and Dusseldorf.

Breastlight is a new health and wellbeing product for women. It is a handheld, battery operated device that helps women with their monthly breast self examination by shining a high intensity red light through the breast tissue, enabling users to see inside their own breasts and get to know what is normal for them. The Boots Centre for Innovation team was introduced to Breastlight by our venture capital partner Longbow Capital, and we carried out a technical and commercial evaluation to validate the science behind the product before recommending that Boots should offer Breastlight to its customers. Breastlight launched on www.boots.com at the beginning of September and then launched in store during October and November. It retails at a price of £84.99. Please click here to read the full case study.

The Physicool^TM therapeutic range of unique stretchy reusable bandages was introduced to the Boots Centre for Innovation in June 2009 and has now been launched on the Boots website.  Physicool is a unique stretchy reusable bandage with an interesting story.  When applied to a physical strain or injury the temperature of the affected area drops significantly, about 10C-15C. Straight out of the pack, without prior need to freeze or introduce ice as with other solutions. The cooling and compression provide instant treatment for inflammation and bruising of muscles, tendons and ligaments, rapidly reducing swelling and pain; helping to speed up the healing process.  Please click here to read the full case study.

The team have continued to review new products and enterprises during November many of which were reviewed at the ‘Making the right connections’ Event in Glasgow. The Centre sponsored the event and gave a detailed overview on future trends in consumer healthcare to a large group of Scottish SMES (Small to Middle Sized Enterprises) who are working in the health and wellness sector. The Centre also raised awareness of the Open Innovation opportunities for Scottish SME’s as the event facilitated 1-2-1 partnering meetings where companies were able to pitch their ideas to the team with a view to potential partnering, licensing or some other strategic relationship.

The team have also been as far as Dusseldorf this month attending the world’s largest medical trade fair, where a number of new consumer opportunities were identified. This event was particularly useful in informing the Centres Testing and Screening strategic work and establishing links with Trade support organisations from Germany and Italy. The Centre hopes that these links will lead to future contacts for future BCI hosted events.

If you are interested in reading more about the Boots Centre for Innovation please visit www.bootsinnovation.com for more information.