Procurement boost as millions injected into healthcare R&D

A quarter of a billion pounds is to be ploughed into providing extra support to enable UK companies to increase the development of innovative products and services including medical devices and assistive technology systems.

To mark its fifth anniversary, the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) has revealed a budget of £390m for 2012-13, with £250m of government investment in 60 competitions that will lead to innovation projects and programmes designed to stimulate business growth.

The conservative nature of patient care can limit the adoption of new technologies, as can the fragmented nature of procurement

Of this cash, up to £65.7m will go to firms working in the healthcare sector, concentrating primarily on devices and systems to aid independent living, the detection and identification of infectious diseases; personalised healthcare tailored to individual patients; and regenerative medicines.

This is one of five areas of significant investment outlined in the TSA’s Delivery Plan for 2012-13. It also focuses on the built environment, energy, transport and food markets.

Companies will be supported in a number of ways including collaborative research and development projects tackling specific technical or societal challenges; demonstrator projects to accelerate the introduction of new products, systems and services by enabling demonstration, testing and validation on a large scale; feasibility studies to help assess the potential of ideas; and innovation platforms that bring together industry, academia and government to focus on challenges such as disease diagnosis.

They will also be given help to access international support, for example from Eurostars, which helps high-tech SMEs develop partnerships with other companies and supply chain partners across Europe.

How the public sector behaves towards its suppliers can do much to foster innovation. The potential is widely recognised, but there are major cultural and process issues to overcome

In addition, over the coming year the TSA will be introducing innovation vouchers, enabling innovative SMEs to engage with new partners to access knowledge that could help their businesses grow.

The plan states: “Healthcare providers are facing greater challenges from a growing, ageing population and an increasing burden of disease.

“Companies looking to meet the challenge to become more efficient and effective must look at disease prevention and the management of chronic conditions; earlier and better detection and diagnosis of disease leading to improvements in patient outcomes; and highly-effective treatments that are tailored to patients’ individual needs and either modify the underlying disease or offer potential cures.”

Acknowledging the very specific challenges facing healthcare firms in the current economic environment, it adds: “Medicines and healthcare technology innovation must be carried out within a regulatory environment designed to protect patients. The development timelines are therefore longer when compared to some other technology sectors and the risks and costs can deter investment in innovative solutions.

The UK Government is the largest single purchaser in the UK, but little of that purchasing power is directed at supporting innovation and economic growth

“The conservative nature of patient care can limit the adoption of new technologies, as can the fragmented nature of procurement. The pace of technology innovation is outstripping the ability of users to adapt the way healthcare is delivered. We must also ensure innovators are working towards users’ needs and think about how adoption of technology will require changes in patient care pathways, or the way in which services are accessed.”

These challenges will be addressed through the creation of four ‘innovation platforms’ covering the following areas:

• Helping businesses to deliver technological and service innovation to support independent living for the ageing population
• Enabling companies to address the need to reduce mortality, morbidity and the economic burden of infectious diseases
• Supporting companies to create cost-effective solutions for the right treatment for the right patient at the right time
• Helping UK businesses to take advantage of the next generation of treatments to deliver long-term relief or cures for diseases
• Support for translational activities bridging academic and commercial activities in therapeutic development, medical devices, diagnostics and e-Health/m-Health solutions.

The plan states: “We will run a number of competitions to address earlier and better diagnosis and treatment of disease. The first, under the Stratified Medicine Innovation Platform, will identify how diagnostics can be used in the clinical care pathway to address the risks of side effect/adverse drug reactions and/or to highlight non-responders.

It adds: “We cannot make innovation happen alone, but we can help. This is why everything we do is driven by the question: Will it help UK business bring new ideas and technologies to market?”

The TSA plan also aims to improve communication and procurement activities between the market and the public sector.

Companies looking to meet the challenge to become more efficient and effective must look at disease prevention and the management of chronic conditions, earlier and better detection and diagnosis of disease, and highly-effective treatments that are tailored to patients’ individual needs

“The UK Government is the largest single purchaser in the UK, but little of that purchasing power is directed at supporting innovation and economic growth,” it states. “How the public sector behaves towards its suppliers can do much to foster innovation. The potential is widely recognised, but there are major cultural and process issues to overcome. We will continue to develop this potential and the role of government as a lead customer.”

Welcoming the focus on increasing R&D opportunities for UK businesses, Universities and Science Minister, David Willetts, said: “We are determined to maintain and strengthen our world-leading position in science, innovation and research. That's why the Government is investing £250m through the Technology Strategy Board to develop new and existing products and services. The TSB are experts in supporting innovative businesses and hopefully, by setting out the opportunities available in the coming months, more firms will decide to compete for investment.”

Iain Gray, chief executive of the TSB, added: “Businesses and other organisations are encouraged to engage with the board and access our tools and programmes. It is easy to find out more about funding and another good way to work with us and collaborate with others is through the social networking platform, which provides an effective and powerful way to connect online, network, and share knowledge with other innovators.

To read the full Delivery Plan document, click here