Health Innovation Challenge Fund opens for proposals in five healthcare areas

The Wellcome Trust and Department of Health have opened a new call for proposals under the Health Innovation Challenge Fund, which is open to a wide range of organisations, including small companies and start-ups. Unlike previous rounds, this call covers five separate areas of special interest.

The HIC Fund is a joint funding partnership between the Wellcome Trust and Department of Health. It is a funding scheme designed to accelerate the clinical application of projects that are well advanced along the development pathway. The funding is normally provided in the form of a convertible loan or possibly an equity investment.
 
The key objectives of the fund are to:
• stimulate the development and uptake of innovative products, technologies and interventions for the benefit of patients in the NHS and other healthcare systems;
• support UK-led projects, which target unmet, or poorly met, healthcare needs;
• provide translational funding for projects that have demonstrated ‘proof-of-principle’ and have the potential for clinical use or adoption within five years;
• take the product, technology or intervention to the stage at which it is sufficiently developed to be attractive to follow-on funders or investors;
• encourage the collaboration of companies, academia and clinicians to better confront today’s healthcare challenges.

Under the current call, the HIC Fund invites applications for funding in the following areas of special interest:

– Clinical applications of genetics

– Early detection and diagnosis of chronic illness or long term conditions

– Minimising the impact of trauma and serious injury

– Informing clinical management through software-based analysis of complex datasets

– Repurposing of medicines and medical devices

The deadline for applications is 2nd September 2013.

Businesses developing innovations for healthcare may also qualify for funding from the National Institute for Health Research, Health Enterprise East, the Technology Strategy Board and the European Commission. Cambridge Funding Solutions can help to explore and pursue these opportunities.

Contact Alex Smeets on alex@cambridgefundingsolutions.co.uk for details.

 

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