Press release: £4.4 Million Awarded in Latest SBRI Healthcare Competition

3rd February 2016

Six companies receive second round of funding to develop high potential innovations

SBRI Healthcare, an NHS England funded initiative to develop innovative products that address unmet health needs, today announced the companies that will share £4.4 million having successfully reached the next phase (Phase 2) of the clinically-led competition. Six companies will receive a second round of funding to further develop their products which in this competition are focused on addressing challenges in a key area of healthcare including Brain Injury, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Diabetic Foot Ulcers, Medical Imaging and Outpatient Services.

From 14 companies awarded Phase 1 funding in May 2015, six have demonstrated best value and greatest technical feasibility to a panel of experts looking for innovative technologies with the highest potential value to patients and the health service. The successful companies will now be supported and fully funded to continue with prototype development and product testing.

With awards of up to £1 million each, the successful companies (and supporting Academic Health Science Network) are:

  • Brain Injury – GSPK Design (Yorkshire & Humber AHSN),  Obex Technologies (Eastern AHSN)
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health – Advanced Digital Innovations (Yorkshire & Humber AHSN)
  • Diabetic Foot Ulcer – CaDScan (North West Coast AHSN)
  • Medical Imaging – Gold Standard Phantoms (UCLPartners AHSN)
  • Outpatient Services – Message Dynamics (Kent, Surrey & Sussex AHSN)

“It’s great to see so many innovations that show sufficient promise to warrant second stage funding,” said Richard Stubbs, Commercial Director of Yorkshire and Humber AHSN and management board member of SBRI Healthcare. “The products being developed are going to make care better for patients in really critical areas such as brain injury and children’s mental healthcare. As AHSNs across the country we are driving for development and uptake of innovation to improve healthcare and these SBRI-funded ideas are at the heart of that purpose.”

In 2015, SBRI Healthcare awarded £15 million to 26 companies to support the development of products focused on specific NHS unmet need.

To find out more visit www.sbrihealthcare.co.uk

Obex Technologies, in partnership with the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Hospital, developed the Outcome Registry Intervention and Operation Network (ORION) web application framework in 2012.

ORION enables cloud-based, multi-site capture and processing of diverse healthcare information. Data is automatically validated and structured at the point of entry in order to ensure accuracy of information entry and enables analysis for audit and research purposes.

ORION hosts clinical registries, research databases and clinical service tools across multiple institutions, including all 32 NHS neuroscience units across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its project portfolio extends from frontline service provision to long-term disease surveillance and outcome reporting.

The IRMA (Integrated Rehabilitation Management Application) project (funded by NHS England through SBRI Healthcare) is developing an integrated, scalable and cost-effective rehabilitation platform for hospital and community medicine. Phase I of the project was a feasibility study confirming utility and need, capturing data from 31 patients in 3 different institutions in the East of England. Phase II aims to apply the electronic rehabilitation prescription concept to a wider rehabilitation setting, encompassing brain injury and long-term care. The intention is to enroll approximately 600 patients, in 30 different institutions over the next 12 months.