The Office for Life Sciences is offering up to £1.5 million in funding as part of a competition open to business projects which evaluate the effectiveness of innovative medical devices, diagnostics and regulated digital technology within the NHS.
The competition, which closes on 22 August 2018, is designed to assist micro to medium-sized companies in the life sciences sector with gathering the real-world evidence required for innovative technologies to be adopted; a task which more than 95% of such companies find difficult.
The funding is aimed at smaller projects that develop plans for evidence-gathering in the NHS and larger projects that focus on collecting clinical evidence on the performance and impact of a medicine or device in the NHS. Projects focusing on the effectiveness of a medical or diagnostic device will only be eligible where the device has a CE mark and has not been marketed for more than five years.
To compete for the funding, projects must aim to address NHS priorities such as reducing cancellations, improving patient safety, speeding up diagnosis or supporting management of long-term conditions such as diabetes (a full list of NHS priorities can be found here). Eligible projects must be led by a small or medium-sized enterprise working alone or with other businesses or research organisations, may range in size up to £250,000 and last up to twelve months. Only the lead partner of the project can claim the grant with businesses able to attract up to fifty percent of their project costs.
Further information on this initiative can be found here.
Charlotte Tillett