NIHRDataInsights/HRCSData huggingface dataset:
Title: Integrating Continuous Technologies Rapid Delivery of Cost Effective Biotherapeutics to Patients
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: Efficient and agile production of high-quality biopharmaceuticals is of the highest priority to the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry. The advantage of integrating multiple unit operations into a continuous process has been demonstrated by a previous consortium project, based at CPI Darlington. During that project, 3 out 4 of the end-user participant companies have moved to develop their own capabilities. The UK needs to continue to develop expertise in this area to encourage a biopharmaceutical manufacturing presence. This project builds on the proof-of-concept system developed in previous projects and adds the next required level of configurability, automation control and process intelligence:- * critical control automation and predictive performance to show real-time continuity of quality attributes and to predict consumable lifetime and changeover to avoid quality deviations (predictive maintenance). Next generation Advanced Process Control and Machine Learning techniques will be developed. These tools will create a vendor independent /scale independent intelligent control solution. * optimisation of unit operation interfaces by the incorporation of 3D-printed microfluidics to reduce volumes and therefore residence time distribution. These interfaces are also a critical point for hygienic process sampling for at-line quality analytics. * synchronising the process data generated by the system into manufacturing cost, investment required, environmental cost, production capacity and production facility requirements. These elements will be actively assessed to allow for the process to be optimised on these factors. * extending the upstream capabilities of the system to include a perfusion bioreactor. The process will utilise a monoclonal antibody product and process from AstraZeneca. Pall Biotech will continue to support the use of equipment and consumables used in the downstream process. The project brings together 5 biotech product companies, all with UK Operations and a Catapult centre. The output of a demonstrator hosted at a High Value Manufacturing Catapult open access centre will ensure dissemination of the performance, design, control strategies and business value of the integrated manufacturing technology.


Research activity codes: 5.1 PHARMACEUTICALS
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Personalised care through technology - augmenting social care delivery with wearables
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: UK digital social care startup Birdie is partnering with French remote monitoring company Co-Assist to use technology to make domiciliary care more comprehensive and personalised. During the collaboration, Co-Assist's wearable trackers will sense activity levels, location, need for assistance and falls among service users. This data will be fully integrated into Birdie's social care management platform so that care managers are able to see abnormalities as and when they occur, and respond quickly to their customers' needs. Throughout a two year development project, Birdie and Co-Assist will work towards adapting the existing technology to perform even more sophisticated, world-first functionality, achieving cutting-edge innovation that will prove vital in the mission to keep elderly people happier, healthier and at home for longer.


Research activity codes: 4.2 EVALUATION OF MARKERS AND TECHNOLOGIES;7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Advancing Understanding and Rapid Optimisation of NRC’s Recombinant AAV Platform (AURORA)
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: Gene therapies are a highly promising and rapidly expanding new class of biotherapeutics able to treat and potentially cure diseases that currently have few or no treatment options. The major challenge facing commercialisation of gene therapies is the manufacture and supply of products at a commercial scale. Critical to the success of gene therapies is the ability to develop robust and scalable manufacturing process that can meet anticipated commercial demand. Platform processes will enable more rapid development and commercialisation of gene therapies at lower risk and cost. This 12 month project brings together the significant AAV process development expertise and capability of two leading national research organisations, CPI and the National Research Council of Canada, to rapidly optimise a new manufacturing platform for the benefit of companies developing gene therapies (particularly SMEs) and accelerate these important new treatments to market.


Research activity codes: 5.2 CELLULAR AND GENE THERAPIES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Nav.AI: a cognitive assisted digital regulatory navigation platform for health product innovators
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: Products designed for use in the health sector cover a very wide range of form and function. Products designed for use in this sector may have a medical function which makes the product either a medicinal product or a medical device product or they may fall outside the product classification requirements. The regulations, standards and guidance which govern the sector are complex and present a maze which developers find difficult to navigate. A product developer must navigate this regulatory maze and meet the regulatory requirements before a product can be sold. NAV.AI aims to develop a cognitively assisted platform to guide a user through the maze of regulations for health related products and on the basis answers to questions about * What the product is designed to achieve * How the product achieves its goal * The claims the developer wishes to make for the product * Publicly available data regarding medical device, medicinal compound and disease classification identify the most appropriate classification for the product i.e. is it a medical device (Medical Device, IVD or active implantable medical device) or some other form of regulated product? The platform will also identify any other regulations which the product must comply with. Once the platform has determined the type of product it will then determine the options available for obtaining a UKCA and/or a EU CE mark required to sell the product. The project is innovative since the compliance software available that is designed for use in the health products industry, are designed to help the user maintain regulatory compliance and not identify the regulations which a product should comply with. This platform aims to provide product developers with a road map for how to demonstrate the compliance of their product with the relevant regulations, standards and the resources available to help them achieve it. Since the aim of NAV.AI is a proof of principle, a smaller subset of regulations will be considered. The platform will be tested using product details and judged against its ability to correctly identify the applicable regulations standards etc, which the product must comply with and the support available to meet those requirements.


Research activity codes: 5.9 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (TREATMENT DEVELOPMENT)
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Integrated Human-Centred Care Access for Older People
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: The adult care sector and healthy ageing community (65+) are severely weakened by years of declining funding and rising demand for services which Covid-19 has exacerbated. Older people with physical, social, financial and housing (PSFH) needs and their concerned parties fail to receive adequate care, products and services. Building the Care Access (CA) Platform will create value by facilitating exchanges between older people and organisations. CA will harness and create an extensive, scalable network of consumers and producers with resources accessed on-demand. Creating communities and markets will allow older people and organisations to interact and transact.


Research activity codes: 7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS;8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Developing Cryosuit - usability and performance validation of our portable, rapid cooling device for heat-related illness.
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: **Developing the Cryosuit - usability and performance validation of our portable, rapid cooling device for heat-related illness.** Illness and complications brought on by heat has a significant impact on population health and economies worldwide. Heatstroke causes vital organ damage, leading to serious debilitation or death, if treatment to lower core body temperature is not administered quickly. Heat-related illnesses(HRI) such as heat stroke cost the UK £3.85bn between 2000-2009 \[CCC.org-2019\]. By 2030, heat stress will cost the global economy £1.8 trillion/year in lost productivity and healthcare\[UN,2019\]. Global warming and the increasing regularity of extreme weather patterns is therefore driving an urgent need for new technologies to treat HRI, with a 2018 Environmental Audit Committee report predicting "heat-related deaths are set to treble by 2050" in the UK without Government intervention. Cryogenx aims to radically disrupt the £360m 'cold therapy' heat illness treatment market with Cryosuit; our portable rapid cooling device for treating HRI in-the-field. Compact, self-powered and lightweight, it's easy to operate and can be effectively deployed in any scenario, overcoming the logistical barriers and resource dependency of current cooling methods. Critically, Cryosuit will enable life-saving cooling to be initiated as rapidly as possible; the single largest factor influencing patient outcome. Building on our initial Cryosuit prototype - which data from preliminary tests shows to have 2.5x faster cooling rate, 3x duration, and 70% reduction in cost compared to existing field HRI treatment methods - this experimental development project will optimise the technology to demonstrate the usability, safety and efficacy required to be a recognised healthcare solution. With support form University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, we'll develop our technology via human-centred-design principles into a full-scale V2 prototype, validated in field-trials with Brunel University, Air Ambulance, Balfour Beatty and UK Special Forces. The projects outputs will be: * Ergonomically designed TRL6 prototype and packaging with integrated gas delivery system * Clinical datasets and validation from end-user field trials


Research activity codes: 5.5 RADIOTHERAPY AND OTHER NON-INVASIVE THERAPIES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: The Application of Flow Chemistry to Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: Improving working practices by adopting the latest technologies and best approaches into a commercial organisation benefits the company by providing it with a series of competitive edges. In the areas of pharmaceutical, agrochemical and neuroceuticals synthesis, Flow Chemistry based process manufacturing is a new approach that boosts both efficiency and productivity. Instead of working in large bulky reactors, flow reactors can be engineered as miniaturised high performance units that enable a continuous feed of chemicals to be converted in real-time producing a constant product output stream. Indeed, several reactors can be integrated together to allow multi-step transformations to prepare complex products. This approach also allows rapid scaling of the output by simply leaving the reactor running longer and can facilitate just in time manufacture through rapid start-up and shut down. Conceptually this transition from old Batch based chemical synthesis to modern Flow Chemistry (a form of continuous manufacturing) can be likened to the evolution in making coffee. Historically, coffee was prepared using a stove heated percolator (Classical batch based chemical synthesis) however, modern expresso coffee machines can now, at the press of a few buttons, make coffee on-demand, even extending the process adding flavours, milk and sweeteners (Flow based synthesis). From a pharmaceutical synthesis perspective adopting Flow Chemistry also provides gains with regards saving on space, energy and much improved worker safety. Another aspect which offers considerable value is the small dimension reactors which facilitate easy application of higher pressures and temperatures which can be used to drastically accelerate the reaction to completion allowing much greater throughput of material, higher yields and improved purity of the product. This then can shorten the production sequence by reducing purification work streams. Currently much of the practical knowledge of Flow Chemistry techniques and its associated technologies are resident in Universities. In this proposal we intend to take this experience directly into a corporate environment where it will be applied to design and streamline a series of selected chemical manufacturing processes. This will enable the company to test and embed the technology into its commercial offerings. The experiences and data generated can also be used to spring board this technology to other organisations through the generation of 'best practices'.


Research activity codes: 5.1 PHARMACEUTICALS
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: University of Durham and Cievert Limited
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: To enhance the management of outpatient follow-up by improved identification and treatment of radiotherapy side effects using machine learning and artificial intelligence.


Research activity codes: 5.5 RADIOTHERAPY AND OTHER NON-INVASIVE THERAPIES;8.4 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGIES (HEALTH SERVICES)
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Homes for living
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: As the UK ageing population continues to rise, it poses economic, social and political challenges as we adapt. Health and Social Care services face unprecedented financial and operational demands for services under constrained resources. The dependency on our older citizens and those that informally care for their loved ones has therefore increased, particularly as more people wish to stay in their own home for longer. For people over the age of 65 that live alone, live in poor housing conditions or in poverty, are at greater risk. We know that existing housing stock is among the oldest in Europe, but with that comes a high cost to our health and care services. It is estimated that unsuitable housing costs the NHS £624m for the first year, mainly due to hazards and falls. However, without this spend, reduces a healthy quality of life and a person's ability to live independently. The reactive cycle of demand then continues, leaving the UK at crisis point as we now reach unprecedented levels of much needed change. E.ON UK have embraced a systematic innovative approach to address the concerns of our ageing society, with a primary focus on identifying the correct problem to be solved. With billions of pounds already being spent on research and innovation across countries, identifying and reacting to address a worldwide ageing concern, we see the customer needs are not being fulfilled by delivering solutions in isolation. However, we recognise that this isn't necessarily about re-inventing, it's about innovatively collaborating and joining up services, challenging the status quo, and learning from the work already done. We are taking a whole new approach by bringing together a team of experts to help us. 'Homes for Living' is keeping a focus on aspirational living and that if a home isn't suitable because; it creates isolation, it's cold, damp, or unsuitable as we grow older; it can become a hazardous place to live, or even force people to leave their home. By building on energy efficiency services, joining up existing and new innovations, a whole-house-solution can be created with inclusivity, dignity and independence in mind. With dual-purpose, aesthetically pleasing adaptations; a smart kitchen that is designed for any generation; combined with smart care at your fingertips, a home can continue to be a place of comfort and support you throughout a persons life journey.


Research activity codes: 7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Transitions Service
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: For 18 months, East Sussex County Council (ESCC) and Plymouth University have collaborated on the Healthy Ageing and Innovation in Rural Europe (HAIRE) project. Our research with people aged 60+ found that significant changes in older people's lives -- transitions -- can have a significant impact on their immediate/future health and wellbeing. Such transitions include retiring, moving home, experiencing significant changes in health/mobility, becoming a carer, and bereavement. Older people commonly found it difficult to prepare for transitions and in some cases actively avoided thinking about them, preferring instead to deal with changes as they unfolded. This can lead to problematic experiences of ageing and to arriving in crises and trying to cope without sufficient resilience, relevant knowledge and skills, and social support, and to relying more heavily on services. In response, we will develop a 'transition service' that will help people to prepare for and navigate transitions in later life. The transition service will combine a digital app with existing/new peer support and wider services as required. The evidence-based app will guide users in understanding, growing, and mobilising their 'healthy ageing capital' (HAC) -- the personal, social, community-based, and cultural resources required to age well. The app will help individuals to identify and action strategies to grow and use their HAC by guiding them through relevant questions and reflective prompts. The app would be self-administered, or if individuals prefer (or if the app recognised assistance may be required), volunteer support will be available to guide individuals through their HAC assessment, reflection and action planning. The app/volunteer support will include detailed knowledge of the service/support landscape and be able to make connections to suggested/selected strategies/support. Volunteer training will be developed and will include strategies for developing volunteers who have relevant lived experience. This will include training volunteers within local organisations, thus adding to local capacity and helping to locally embed the service. The transition service will therefore be fully integrated into the service/support landscape. Our project contributes to a number of the Healthy Ageing Challenge themes directly, and indirectly to them all. Directly, it will help people manage the common complaints/experiences of ageing and later life, and build supportive social connections. Indirectly, it will help people build the personal and social resources, skills, knowledge, resilience and reflexive capacity to better navigate the other healthy ageing challenges. The project will be led by ESCC and delivered in partnership with Plymouth University.


Research activity codes: 7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS;8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: CAIRN -a miniaturized microwave medical device
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: Emblation is an established manufacturer of microwave medical devices and wishes to shrink the volume of one of its products to a handheld device and make a step reduction in its cost of goods. With a smaller and cheaper device, adoption rates will increase and new markets can be addressed. ArQana Technologies is an experienced designer and supplier of microwave source components based in Singapore. Offering a range of amplifiers, control components and transistors, arQana specialises in semiconductor component designs that can meet Emblation’s needs to improve the efficiency on generating microwave energy at a significantly lower cost than the existing product implementation.


Research activity codes: 5.3 MEDICAL DEVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: An innovative healthcare record platform using AI and mobile phone cameras that could save the aesthetic industry’s supply managers three hours a day
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: Encode Health (Encode), led by Costas Fantis, Bob Sutton and Carlon Fitzpatrick, is a UK medical technology and devices SME developing a mobile healthcare record platform. There has recently been progress towards regulation of the UK's aesthetics industry, but administrative tasks around prescriptions, supply chains and patient outcomes take up hours of highly qualified clinicians' work at a time when 85% of services have been decimated by COVID-19\. Encode uses industry-specific unique identifiers to train its AI and simplify the management of health records so that it can be easily done on a mobile phone.


Research activity codes: 5.9 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (TREATMENT DEVELOPMENT);8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Genetics to new chemical entities
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: Resistant strains of bacteria, fungi and plants that are not susceptible to modern medicine and crop protection chemicals, pose a serious threat to society. The rise in antibiotic resistant superbugs, drug-resistant cancers and treatment-resistant crop pests are all threatening to have a major impact on our health, quality of life and ultimately the sustainability of life as we know it. To combat this growing threat we need new chemical compounds that are able to selectively kill these resistant organisms and act as the medicines and crop protection chemicals of the future. Identifying new compounds that have good bioactivities is hard. Typically companies need to screen 100,000 compounds to find one structure that hits a desired target. This low "hit rate" makes discovering new medicines and crop protection chemicals slow and expensive. We have developed a platform which enables us to engineer soil bacteria to produce new bioactive natural product compounds that have hit-rates 20x-better than synthetic chemicals currently being used by industry. Through our market research we have identified several companies in both the pharmaceutical and agrochemical sectors who are keen to partner with us to discover new natural products that could be developed into new medicines and crop protection compounds. We will use this funding to better develop our platform and to demonstrate that we can build new compound libraries quickly and affordably. We will achieve this by automating the platform with robotics, which will allow us to engineer more bacteria in parallel and decrease the time the platform takes to complete a discovery cycle. As we develop the platform we will generate new libraries of natural products that will enable us to partner with early adopters of our technology. Our aim is to grow these early adopter partnerships into deeper, long term co-development projects with a focus on bringing new medicines and crop protection products to market.


Research activity codes: 5.1 PHARMACEUTICALS
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE