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Hale House opens as new health tech innovation hub in Harley Street Health District
Hale House is set to position the Harley Street Health District as a leading cluster for Health innovation.
The £52 million investment is a clear reflection of Howard de Walden’s ongoing commitment to advancing healthcare and solidifying the district as a destination for healthcare excellence long into the future.
Hale House is a pioneering development designed to drive healthcare transformation through collaboration, forward-thinking innovation and the integration of the latest technologies.
Located on Portland Place in the heart of Marylebone, Hale House spans three buildings: 19 Portland Place, 76-78 Portland Place (now open), and 42 Portland Place (opening June 2025).
The development is poised to become the London’s foremost destination for HealthTech startups, investors, and healthcare pioneers.
A Hub for HealthTech Innovation
The Harley Street Health District represents 40 per cent of London’s independent healthcare market and 10 per cent of the UK market.
With a focus on advancing emerging technologies, groundbreaking research, and expanding services across the entire healthcare pathway, Howard de Walden is committed to fostering collaboration and innovation.
Mark Kildea, Chief Executive of The Howard de Walden Estate, commented: By investing in health innovation, we have created spaces that will push the boundaries of emerging technologies and help those involved in ground-breaking research, in a location known for leading healthcare, innovation, influential policy think tanks and investors.”
The district is home to world-class healthcare providers, including HCA, Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, and Cedars-Sinai, along with leading UK institutions such as The Royal Marsden, Guy’s and St Thomas’, UCLH, and Moorfields.
Accelerating HealthTech Collaboration
Hale House provides a range of flexible workspaces—from private offices and coworking areas to meeting rooms and event spaces—all designed to promote collaboration among HealthTech innovators.
The development offers a wide array of state-of-the-art amenities, including media production facilities, a wellness room, and a rooftop garden terrace.
The hub is set to accelerate HealthTech innovation by connecting startups to a dynamic ecosystem of over 2,500 healthcare professionals, cutting-edge testing facilities, and key industry leaders through exclusive networking events.
“We are confident that Hale House will play a pivotal role in driving the transformation of healthcare,” said Kildea.
Hale House has already secured significant partnerships, including UCLPartners, one of the world’s largest academic health science organisations; The NHS Innovation Accelerator, a national fellowship programme supporting innovators to scale and One HealthTech, a volunteer-led, global community of health innovators which champions diversity and inclusion.
Highlighting Hale House’s commitment to fostering a strong, inclusive and interconnected community for HealthTech businesses.
Dr Chris Laing, CEO, UCLPartners said: “Our new home at Hale House will help us connect the health technology and life science sectors with healthcare providers, patients and the public.
“This will be invaluable to our work delivering novel solutions to challenges in health and care and driving economic growth.
We look forward to welcoming and supporting innovators both near and far to benefit from the world-class health ecosystem on our doorstep. Together we can develop novel solutions that will define the healthcare of the future.”
Maxine Mackintosh & Angela Maragna, Co-Directors, One HealthTech, added: “We’re so pleased to be partnering with the team at Hale House; it’s rare to find a space and people who truly understand the power of community-led energy, the importance of diverse voices, and the creativity sparked when you bring together all parts of the health innovation world.
“We’re excited about what this partnership can achieve and can’t wait to see it thrive.”
Transdermal HRT best protects bone density in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea, a condition that stops periods, a review of trials has found.
The meta-analysis pooled randomised clinical trials involving 692 participants and found transdermal hormone replacement therapy and teriparatide increased bone mineral density by between 2 and 13 per cent.
Functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea can follow anorexia or intense exercise. Bone mineral density measures bone strength and the amount of mineral in bone.
Around half of women with the condition have low bone mineral density, compared with about 1 per cent of healthy women, and their fracture risk is up to seven times higher.
The research was conducted by scientists at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Professor Alexander Comninos, senior author of the study and consultant endocrinologist at the trust, said: “Bone density is lost very rapidly in FHA and so addressing bone health early is very important to reduce the lifelong risk of fractures.
“Our study provides much needed comparisons of all the available treatments from all available studies.
“Clearly the best treatment is to restore normal menstrual cycles and therefore oestrogen levels through various psychological, nutritional or exercise interventions – but that is not always possible.
“The foundation for bone health is good calcium and vitamin D intake (through diet and/or supplements) but we have additional treatments that are more effective.”
When FHA is diagnosed, clinicians first try to restore periods through lifestyle measures, including psychological and dietary support, but these can fail. Guidelines then recommend giving oestrogen, though the best form was unclear.
The team reviewed all prior randomised trials comparing therapies, including oral and transdermal oestrogen, and also assessed teriparatide, a prescription bone-building drug used for severe osteoporosis.
They found no significant benefit for oral contraceptive pills or oral hormone therapy.
A recent UK audit reported that about a quarter of women with anorexia-related FHA are prescribed the oral contraceptive pill for bone loss; the study suggests using transdermal therapy instead.
Comninos said: “Our goal is simple: to help women receive the right treatment sooner and to protect their bone health in the long-term.
“We hope this study provides clinicians with better evidence to choose transdermal oestrogen when prescribing oestrogen and so inform future practice guidelines.
“Right now, millions of women with FHA may not be receiving the best treatments for their bone health.”
An AI tool cut interval breast cancers by 12 per cent in a Swedish screening trial of more than 105,000 women.
The study also found 27 per cent fewer aggressive breast cancers detected at screening when AI was used.
Interval cancers are cancers found between routine screening appointments because they were missed at the original scan. They are often more dangerous and linked to higher death rates than cancers found at screening.
The MASAI trial is described as the first large randomised study to test whether AI can improve mammography screening, which uses low-dose X-rays to examine breast tissue for signs of cancer.
The AI tool, called Transpara Detection and developed by ScreenPoint Medical, supported radiologists in analysing mammography images.
Earlier results from the same trial showed that Transpara Detection increased cancers found by 29 per cent and reduced radiologist workload by 44 per cent compared with standard double-reading, where two radiologists independently review each scan.
The latest findings indicate higher accuracy with AI support. Sensitivity, the ability to detect cancer, was 6.7 percentage points higher in the AI group while specificity, the ability to rule out healthy cases, was maintained. Results were similar across age groups and breast density levels.
Women screened with AI had 16 per cent fewer invasive interval cancers and 21 per cent fewer large interval cancers than those in the standard screening group.
The system also helps doctors assess risk more precisely by subdividing suspicious findings into BI-RADS 4 categories A, B and C. BI-RADS (Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System) is a standardised scale that guides whether a patient needs closer monitoring, further tests or treatment.
Ageing anxiety may accelerate biological ageing in women, with fears about worsening health linked to faster epigenetic ageing, according to new research.
The study found that greater anxiety about growing old was associated with accelerated epigenetic ageing, as measured by the DunedinPACE clock, based on biological markers in blood samples.
Epigenetic changes are shifts in how genes are switched on or off without altering DNA itself, which can influence how the body ages and functions.
“Our research suggests that subjective experiences may be driving objective measures of ageing,” said Mariana Rodrigues, a PhD student and the first author of the study.
“Ageing-related anxiety is not merely a psychological concern, but may leave a mark on the body with real health consequences.”
Researchers analysed data from 726 women in the Midlife in the US study.
Participants were asked how much they worried about becoming less attractive with age, having more health issues and being too old to have children.
Blood samples were used to assess ageing with two epigenetic clocks: DunedinPACE, which estimates the pace of biological ageing, and GrimAge2, which estimates cumulative biological damage.
The study was conducted by researchers at NYU School of Global Public Health.
Worrying about declining health showed the strongest links with epigenetic ageing, while anxiety about attractiveness and fertility was not significantly associated with biological markers.
The authors suggest health worries are more common and persist over time, whereas concerns about appearance and reproduction may fade with age.
“Women in midlife may also be multiple in roles, including caring for their ageing parents,” Rodrigues said.
“As they see older family members grow older and become sick, they may worry about whether the same thing will happen to them.”
The authors caution that the study offers a snapshot in time and other factors may influence these biological changes.
When analyses were adjusted for health behaviours such as smoking and alcohol use, the link between ageing anxiety and epigenetic ageing decreased and was no longer significant.
“Our research identifies ageing anxiety as a measurable and modifiable psychological determinant that seems to be shaping ageing biology,” said Adolfo Cuevas, associate professor of social and behavioural sciences and the study’s senior author.
They call for more research to clarify how this anxiety influences ageing over time, to guide support for those experiencing ageing anxiety.
“Ageing is a universal experience.” Rodrigues said.
“We need to start a discourse about how we as a society, through our norms, structural factors and interpersonal relationships, address the challenges of ageing.”
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