This follows on our previously reported £12m Biomedical Catalyst program [TTA 5 Apr]. Innovate UK’s digital health program is being funded by the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund which is also backing battery power and robotics challenge programs.
Detailed information and application information may be found here. Applications close Wednesday 11 October 2017 at noon. Hat tip to Tynetec via Twitter. (Illustration from Innovate UK and innovation leader Chris Sawyer’s blog.)
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Entra.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Entra is a London startup company developing a quick, home-based blood test for clinically valid blood counts. Targeted to the needs of chemotherapy patients, where blood counts are critical in their receiving and timing of treatments, the Affinity (photo left) is designed to take a small sample, analyze it, wirelessly send the information to the hospital or clinic, and enter into the patient’s EHR. It is currently being tested with The Royal Marsden Hospital, a leading UK cancer center, to validate its optical analytics and generate cost-effectiveness data. Blood counts are not only critical to correct patient treatment, but also to assigning and canceling appointments. Entra is being supported by £1.14 million in funding from Innovate UK, much of it through the Biomedical Catalyst. The timeline to commercial release is being estimated at two years. It’s anticipated that once verified, the blood count technology could be further developed for other uses. Gov.UK. Hat tip to our Eye on Tenders, Susanne Woodman
Raising funds for another type of blood testing is a NYC-based biotech company, Haystack, which is pioneering a single blood test for multiple cancers through proteome molecular profiling. Its goal is early detection of multiple cancers through one test using panels of biomarkers. The research team headed by John Wilson, PhD, who is affiliated with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, are ready first with pancreatic and lung cancer samples. This has gained the interest of pharma companies who are seeking a companion diagnostic for their drug trials. It was also a category winner at MedStartr’s #MedMo16 last December and presenter at #RISE2017 in March. Haystack’s MedStartr page. Video of Haystack’s presentation at #RISE2017 is on YouTube here (at 58:00) TTA is a MedStartr and Health 2.0 NYC supporter/media sponsor since 2010; event videos are available at Medstartr.tv.
The Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst program now has a £12m challenge program for innovative projects in several healthcare areas, including:
The fund was established by Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council and Scottish Enterprise. Deadline for challenge registration is midday 31 May. A few more details: projects must be led by an SME either working alone or with others; projects can range in size from £250,000 to £4 million and to last between 12 and 36 months; businesses could attract up to 70 percent of their project costs. Innovate UK/Gov.UK page.
‘Fem-Tech’ is a new term to this Editor, but it perfectly describes Chiaro with its smart pelvic floor exercise tool and app, Elvie. It was originally grant-funded by Innovate UK, but has gained an additional £4.8 million from Octopus Ventures and Allbright for a total funding of £9.6 million. It is profitable with direct sales of £800,000, which is another proof that innovators ‘playing the niches’ in the current fragmented environment may be the smartest of all. Plans include building on current major retailers including John Lewis and Amazon, developing three more smart female health products and expand into 25 countries. Innovate UK/Gov.UK page Hat tip for both Innovate UK items to our Eye on Tenders, Susanne Woodman.
Susanne Woodman, our Eye on Tenders, is advising our Readers of a substantial Innovate UK project in the form of a competition–and it is coming up quickly. From their web page:
NHS Scotland, working with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Government, has up to £400,000 to invest in projects that use technology and digital platforms to support and manage inflammatory bowel disease.
The competition is looking for proposals that:
- help patients manage their health from home
- promote independence and support people to be more involved in decisions about their care
- facilitate easier and quicker communication with clinicians
This competition is funded under SBRI (the Small Business Research Initiative) and will have 3 phases – feasibility study, prototype development and pre-commercial testing.
The competition opened on 20 March 2017, and the deadline for registration is at midday on 10 May 2017. There’s a briefing being held in Inverness on 4 April 2017. More information and application link on the Gov.uk website.
Hazel Harper, Programme Manager, Health & Care, at Innovate UK has kindly offered readers this guest blog (which is also available on the Innovate UK website).
Delivering Assisted Living Lifestyles at Scale (dallas) is the largest innovation programme in Health and Care to date. With an ambitious target of touching the lives of over 160,000 people, just exactly what can we learn from this ambitious programme?
It was no mean feat. With no blueprint combined with delivering business as usual and only 3 years to deliver there are plenty of lessons but the question is how many of them will we really learn or will our incessant need to do things our way or no way remain the longest running barrier to progress we’ve known in this space?
Innovate UK’s Tech Inspired Innovation Feasibility Studies Competition originally planned for January has now been delayed
Their intention is to invest up to £2 million in technical feasibility studies to stimulate innovation across four enabling technology areas: advanced materials; biosciences; electronics, sensors and photonics; and information and communication technologies (ICT).
The aim of the competition is to ensure that small and micro businesses in the UK are equipped to respond to market opportunities across a range of economic sectors. They are seeking proposals that will kick-start the delivery of genuinely new products and services, with substantial and scalable commercial potential. Projects must be led by a small or micro company, working either alone or in collaboration with one other small or micro company. Companies could receive up to 70% of their eligible project costs. Projects should last up to 4 months and not exceed total costs of £33,000.
The opening of this competition and related briefing event have been delayed so that Innovate UK can take account of the recent announcements in the Spending Review. Further information will be available in due course.
Briefing event registration is still open for you to register on the waitlist for when the briefings are rescheduled, for Manchester, Edinburgh, London and On line.
More information is available here
Innovate UK has announced , launching Monday 14 September.
As most TTA readers will be well aware, Quantified Self relates to the use of digital technology in self-tracking, monitoring and sensing to improve wellbeing. In particular the contest will be looking for solutions relating to the areas of: nutrition, older people, younger people, mental health and data capture. The winning solutions will focus on ways of empowering users to take ownership of their data to influence behaviour change and improve wellbeing.
The contest will include five challenges each offering up to £35,000 and the chance to work with one of challenge partners: Jamie Oliver, Toshiba, AXA PPP Insurance, Saga and Bupa. The winning company will trial their solution with the challenge partner over a period of three months.
The Knowledge Transfer Network is running two briefing events for this call. To register please sign up below: (more…)
LTCR Live London is now just a few days away, and free to attend
Innovate UK are looking for the most ambitious early stage innovative businesses, start-ups and SMEs to join the Long Term Care Revolution Live.
Dates are: London 12/13 May 2015 & Edinburgh 1/2 June 2015
Across the two day events you will connect with emerging thought leaders, explore new ideas with leading health & care providers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, funders and designers; and engage in experiences that will challenge your current assumptions.
You will learn about a £4 million (more…)
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