Medtech Accelerator, a joint venture with NHS innovation hub Health Enterprise East (HEE), has confirmed the outcome of its second round of funding. Figures reveal that a total of £670,000 has now been awarded by Medtech Accelerator to support innovation projects derived from within the NHS since its launch in 2016.
The news comes in the wake of an announcement that Medtech Accelerator has also been bolstered by an investment worth £500,000 from Essex County Council to support NHS innovation in the region.
Medtech Accelerator is a joint venture between the NHS and regional business partners, including Health Enterprise East (HEE), New Anglia and Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough (GCGP) Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), the Eastern Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) and most recently Essex County Council.
The organisation supports innovators within the NHS at the earliest stages in the product development pathway, by offering funding as well as practical advice on commercialisation and regulatory issues to help ensure that medtech innovations that are inspired from the frontline of the NHS get to market as quickly as possible. The awards are aimed at supporting proof of concept work with the view to creating future spin-out companies that will be established across the region.
Including this latest round of funding, Medtech Accelerator has so far funded seven individual projects, with awards amounting to £670,000. One project within the portfolio has also allowed Medtech Accelerator to take its first equity holding in a spin-out company. Projects that have received financial backing to date range from an enhanced tissue ablation technology used in the treatment of tumours, to a safer technique for administering anaesthesia. This funding has brought innovators closer to selling and marketing their innovations, and given them access to guidance at crucial junctures on issues such as building and designing prototypes, preparing for CE-marking and conducting human study trials.
Commenting on the news, Dr Anne Blackwood, CEO of Health Enterprise East, said: “Our experience at HEE has demonstrated that, with the right funding and guidance, innovative technologies can be successfully fast-tracked to market. Medtech Accelerator supports those clinicians and practitioners who understand where technological innovation is most needed and how best to deliver it, meaning that initial ideas can quickly turn into concrete products, to the benefit of patients in the UK and around the globe.
"We are thrilled that Essex County Council has chosen Medtech Accelerator for this significant investment, and can’t wait to see the projects currently being supported by Medtech Accelerator in use and making a vital difference in our hospitals. We’re also grateful to INVEST Essex who played a key role in facilitating Medtech Accelerator’s introductions to Essex County Council and bringing about their investment.”
Cllr Kevin Bentley, deputy leader at Essex County Council and Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, added: “Our investment in Medtech Accelerator is further evidence of our confidence in the potential of the life sciences and medtech sectors to drive economic growth in our region and across the UK. We are delighted to support a venture that will help commercialise pioneering medical innovations at the same time as creating jobs locally in Essex.”
Two Health Hack events have been run in recent months, where innovators gathered to work on new ideas for potentially life-saving medical technologies. At each event, the most promising projects were invited forward to apply for further funding and support. The next event will take place on 3 and 4 May 2018 at the Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford, Essex and will focus on patient safety. For further information contact Chris.armstrong@hee.co.uk
