Innovative healthcare companies in Lancashire and South Cumbria are being urged to take part in a new initiative to cut drug deaths.
The Reducing Drug Deaths Innovation Challenge is a £5m fund focused on using digital, tech and innovation to prevent fatal drug overdoses.
The Addiction Healthcare Mission, led by the UK government Office for Life Sciences and the Scottish Health Industry Partnership, is funding the challenge.
Applicants can secure up to £100k of funding to develop a product prototype, which if successful could lead to a further £500k for product demonstration and patient testing.
Companies which already have prototypes can bid immediately for the £500k testing phase.
Priority areas for the project are:
- Discrete digital technology solutions with intuitive patient and responder-centric design
- Simple alert or responder pathways that create effective responses to potentially fatal overdose events
- Solutions that enhance the ability to self-monitor by people who use drugs
- Improved equity of access, detection, and response in this vulnerable population through connected and safe digitalised platforms
- Enhanced simple live intelligent data-gathering processes, surveillance, and remote monitoring
The challenge is open for applications until 21 April 2023.
