Innovate UK to invest up to £1 million for SMEs to evaluate innovative medical technologies

SMEs can apply for a share of £1 million to support the evaluation of innovative medical devices, diagnostics and regulated digital health products.

Total project costs must range in size from £50,000 to £250,000

The Office for Life Sciences (OLS) in partnership with Innovate UK is to invest up to £1 million to support developers of innovative medicines, medical devices, diagnostics and regulated digital technology to evaluate their product in a real world clinical setting.

This competition aims to provide support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to generate an evidence base that will enable the evaluation of products that address NHS priorities. This support is intended to allow companies to collect and analyse clinical performance and cost effectiveness data within an NHS setting.

Competition opens: Monday 29 January 2018
Competition closes: Wednesday 21 March 2018 12:00pm

Proposals should:

• describe the innovative medicine or CE-marked device
• include any current up to date evidence of the product‚Äôs clinical performance and cost effectiveness
• demonstrate how the product meets the priority needs defined in¬†next steps on the NHS 5 year forward view, and how it is expected to deliver significant cost savings, health gains or beneficial service impacts, if quickly adopted across NHS England
• provide evidence that you are working with appropriate stakeholders including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), NHS England, National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs)
• include the development or implementation of plans for data collection within the NHS
• outline how studies will generate data on the costs and benefits of a product, allowing evaluation by NICE

All projects must be business led.

Collaborative partners are permitted but not required. Only the lead partner can claim grant.

Innovate UK aim to encourage SMEs involved in the development and manufacture of innovative medical devices, diagnostics and regulated digital healthcare products to collect supporting clinical evidence on the performance and impact of their product in the NHS. Proposals must aim to support the impact assessment of medical devices, diagnostics and regulated digital healthcare products.

They will also fund projects that support the development or design of plans for the collection of clinical data, for example, projects to define evidence gaps and design performance evaluation studies.

Priority will be given to products that address the priorities outlined in the next steps on the NHS 5 year forward view. Developers of medical devices, diagnostics and regulated digital healthcare products should have gained a CE marking. However, you should not have marketed the product in the UK for more than 5 years.

You will need to show how your product is likely to have a significant impact and is aligned with NHS England’s priorities.

You should show how your project will produce evidence of the impact of your technology, and where appropriate increase patient access to innovative technologies.

Specific themes

They are particularly encouraging applications that are aligned with priority areas for NHS England, as described in the next steps on the NHS 5 year forward view. Priority will be given to projects that address:

• reducing cancellations or unnecessary appointments in primary and secondary care
• reducing the burden on A&E services, for example through diverting footfall
• improving patient safety and avoiding patient harm
• speeding up diagnosis, such as improving the scope of lower cost diagnostic imaging
• enabling earlier diagnosis of cancer
• supporting the management of long term conditions, such as diabetes, chronic pain management cardiovascular disease, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Applications should also demonstrate how the project will:

• expand the evidence base by adding data that can contribute to the health technology appraisal process, for
• instance through comparing the use of the new product against the current standard of care
• support identification of potential breakthrough technologies
• support the establishment of improved methods and systems, and demonstrate how the product combined with health care system adaptation delivers better outcomes at lower cost
• work with the National Institute of Health Research

Funding and project details

Innovoate UK have allocated up to £1 million to fund projects in this competition.

Option 1: project costs of up to £50,000

SMEs can apply for support to develop detailed and feasible plans for the collection of relevant data in a clinical setting. It is expected that the development of these plans will involve discussion with appropriate stakeholders in NIHR, NICE and NHS England.

Option 2: project costs of up to £250,000

SMEs can apply for support to enable the collection and analysis of real world data that helps evaluate the impact of your product. Plans must have been developed in discussion with NICE and NHS England.

You can use the funding to access innovation and advisory support services, including consultancy. You can also use it to support costs related to the collection and analysis of clinical data beyond that required for standard clinical care.

For more information and to apply, click here.

If you need more information, contact the competition helpline on 0300 321 4357 or email us at support@innovateuk.gov.uk