UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £9 million to develop more effective and efficient treatments through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
Announcing the funding, the Government said that advancing new and novel digital technologies could significantly improve outcomes for patients, and provide cost benefits for healthcare providers.
The digital health technology catalyst aims to accelerate the development of digital health innovations and grow the sector.
Health-tech firm FundamentalVR has previously received funding through the catalyst. The company is leading a project to develop a VR surgical training platform for students to practice and gain confidence before operating on people.
This competition is part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to deliver leading-edge healthcare in the UK. This £181 million fund that the government says will transform how we develop and manufacture medicines and other healthcare products, such as digital technologies, to get the right drugs and treatments to patients when they need them.
There are 2 competitions that businesses can apply into, depending on the stage of their project:
- up to £1 million for feasibility studies
- up to £8 million for collaborative research and development
Technologies include:
- virtual and augmented reality
- artificial intelligence and machine learning
- the Internet of Things
- data analytics and security
Ideas can be for use in a clinical or non-clinical setting. This could include digital technologies to:
- support clinical decision-making
- improve access to healthcare, support treatment compliance or patient-led management
- improve the patient experience from disease prevention through to diagnosis, treatment, recovery and long-term care
- overcome privacy challenges with managing, sharing and exploiting data
- create significant improvements in quality, speed, costs and outcomes
The competition is open and the deadline for applications is midday on 31 October 2018.
