Over £20 million awarded to companies who have found solutions to NHS challenges

The award is across two competitions, each of which represents a distinct product development phase with successful projects selected on their potential value to the health service, patient benefit and the opportunity to back thriving businesses.

The awards go to companies working in the priority healthcare areas of:

Phase 1: Product feasibility (£2.5 million, 26 companies) - Child & Maternal Health, Integrated Care, Learning Disabilities, Medicines Adherence and Musculoskeletal.

Phase 2: Prototype development (£18.5 million, 20 companies) - Cancer, Cardiovascular, COPD, Diabetes, Mental Health, Patient Safety and Research Tools.

Karen Livingstone, National Director, SBRI Healthcare, commented: “SBRI Healthcare is powering innovative small companies to develop new solutions for challenges the NHS has struggled with for many years. The SBRI Healthcare programme is led by the Academic Health Science Networks who ensure that projects answer a real and compelling need in patient care. We are delighted with the success of the programme to date and that it continues to go from strength to strength. There are now more than 100 companies in the SBRI Healthcare portfolio, a pipeline of products evaluated at over £1 billion and over 20 million patients due to benefit – this is really great news for healthcare and economic growth.

Winners are being announced to coincide with SPARK 2014, SBRI Healthcare’s inaugural conference and exhibition on 10th December, QEII Conference Centre, Westminster, London.

To find out more visit www.sbrihealthcare.co.uk/spark-2014



Competition winners*

SBRI 7 Phase 1: Advanced Digital Innovations (UK) Ltd, Armourgel Ltd, azureindigo, Bering Ltd, BioSensors Ltd, Biovici Ltd, Blue Maestro Ltd,Cambridge Respiratory Innovations Ltd, Cupris Ltd, Digital Creativity in Disability Ltd, Disabled Living Foundation, Docobo Ltd, Folium Optics Ltd, Know Your Own Health Ltd, Maldaba Ltd, Melton Health Care Technologies Ltd, MIRA Rehab, Peacocks Medical Group Ltd, Red Embedded Systems Ltd, Selective Antibodies Ltd, Sensixa Ltd, Taragenyx, Therakind Ltd, University of Central Lancashire, We Predict Ltd

SBRI 5 Phase 2: Aseptika Ltd, Astrimmune Ltd, Cambridge Respiratory Innovations Ltd, Capillary Film Technology Ltd, Cardiocity Ltd, Doctor Communication Solutions Ltd, HealthQuest Solutions Ltd, i2r Medical Ltd, Inotec AMD Ltd, Isansys Lifecare Ltd, Lightpoint Medical Ltd, Mayden House Ltd, Oncascan Ltd, Owlstone Ltd, Oxford Medical Diagnostics Ltd, Plessey Group Holdings Ltd, ProReal Ltd, TiKa Diagnostics Ltd, UCL Partners Ltd, ViVO Smart Medical Devices Ltd.

*Subject to due diligence and agreeing contracts

About SBRI Healthcare www.sbrihealthcare.co.uk

The Small Business Research Initiative for Healthcare (SBRI Healthcare) is an NHS England initiative, championed by the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs), whose role is to promote UK economic growth by spreading innovation and best practice across the NHS. The SBRI Healthcare competitions are launched on a biannual basis and result in fully funded development contracts between the awarded company and NHS England to meet known healthcare need.

Generally taking a three-phased development approach, projects start with a 6 month feasibility phase and can then move on to more detailed product development. Phase 1 contracts for feasibility testing are valued at up to £100,000 and last for six months. Phase 2 contracts for prototype development are worth up to £1 million over one year. Phase 3 contracts are intended to accelerate product adoption, with up to a further £1 million over 12 months, providing the opportunity for validation in NHS settings. While the public sector has the right to license the resultant technology, its intellectual property (IP) remains with the company, thereby enabling successful businesses to grow.

Funding for SBRI Healthcare has been secured from NHS England. The programme is directed by the Eastern Academic Health Science Network (EAHSN) on behalf of NHS England and the other regional AHSNs. Health Enterprise East is the management partner and supports the EAHSN to handle the applications, assessments and delivery against contracts.

Previous SBRI Healthcare competitions have called for technological and innovative solutions to, for example, change people’s behaviour in order to reduce the impact of obesity and alcohol related diseases, how to live well with dementia and improved medicine management.

About Academic Health Science Networks www.eahsn.org.uk

Academic Health Science Networks, of which there are 15 regionally based, have been recently designated to provide a systematic delivery mechanism for the local NHS, universities, public health and social care to work with industry to transform the identification, adoption and spread of proven innovations and best practice. SBRI Healthcare competition theme areas are chosen in partnership with the Academic Health Science Networks across England. The programme management is led by the Eastern Academic Health Science Network on behalf of NHS England.

About Health Enterprise East and Competition details www.hee.co.uk

Health Enterprise East Limited (HEE) is the NHS Innovation Hub for the East of England, and assists with accelerating the development and uptake of innovative MedTech products and services that improve the quality of healthcare delivery.

Having pioneered and successfully run the initiative for the East of England since its launch in 2009, HEE now oversees the national SBRI Healthcare programme bringing together businesses, the healthcare industry and the NHS. Information on future competitions can be found on the SBRI Healthcare and the Health Enterprise East websites.

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Contacts:

SBRI Healthcare
Chris Armstrong
Health Enterprise East
Email: chris.armstrong@hee.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 1223 597813

Media contact
Sarah Jeffery
Zyme Communications
E-mail: sarah.jeffery@zymecommunications.com
Phone: +44 (0) 7771 730919
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