Momentum Fund

• The objective is to accelerate innovation into adoption and is intended to develop or generate evidence on the efficacy of a new product or service, demonstrating a healthcare benefit. The Momentum Fund 2020/21 priority areas are yet to be confirmed but are likely to address a search for solution to support post COVID-19 clinical management.
• The Momentum Fund has been established to support the introduction and adoption of needs-led, evidence-based innovations into our healthcare system within the Health Innovation Manchester footprint.
• This will improve the health of our citizens and also promote economic development and wealth creation through the growth of local businesses and jobs.
• The Momentum Fund is specifically designed to provide funding support to help applicants with innovative products or services to accelerate progress towards achieving significant milestones.

If selected for the Momentum Fund, funding can only be used for:

• Market research
• Evaluation of an innovation (e.g. bench or clinical testing) including application for MHRA approval to conduct a clinical trial
• Third-party professional fees (e.g. project management, health economic analysis)
• Activities that will enable early stage revenue generation (e.g. limited production and sales, business plan development)

The funding cannot be used for:

• Retrospective costs
• Capital costs
• Normal business costs (e.g. legal and financial fees will not be deemed eligible industry costs)

Health Accelerator Programme

• The Health Accelerator programme has been developed in partnership with Danaher Diagnostics. The programme will address 2-3 clinical value propositions centred around decentralization of diagnostic testing including multiple modalities and digital enablement in connection with Danaher assets.
• The objective is to help projects that may be able to address specific need of the GM healthcare systems value and develop their engagement in the system.
• The ask of the programme is to provide resource to the projects, help navigate the GM healthcare system, engage with the Greater Manchester Health & Social Care Partnership, provide opportunities for the innovators to learn about the NHS and utilise the expertise of DHR to develop the innovators solution and clinical value proposition.
• The priority area for the healthcare accelerator programme is evaluating the clinical value of remote management of post-acute (COVID-19) and/or chronically ill patients at home.

Keep On Keep Up

App encouraging activity among older people

Digital health technology Keep On Keep Up, successfully applied for funding from Health Innovation Manchester in order to test the effectiveness of their app and take the innovation closer to market.

Falls are the largest cause of accidental death in older people across Europe with 30% of people aged 65 and older falling at least once per year. The direct and indirect annual costs of falls are substantial, reported to be over £2.3bn in the UK in 2013.

Keep On Keep Up, created by The University of Manchester with Jigsaw Homes Group and Reason Digital, aims to address this problem by empowering older people to self-manage their health and maintain their independence and quality of life for as long as possible.

The fun and informative app works by motivating people to engage in appropriate exercises that will improve their balance, muscle strength and power while also improving their awareness of simple changes that can be made to their environment and diet to help prevent falls and promote bone health.

Through Momentum funding, the team were able to undertake critical user testing, recruit a researcher to evaluate the effectiveness of the app and work with NHS Digital on safety compliance. The funding also enabled them to establish a Community Interest Company to take Keep On Keep Up to market.

Dr Paul Dewick, Honorary Research Fellow, Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, The University of Manchester, said: “We found the application process straightforward.

“The two-stage written application process followed by the opportunity to present to a roundtable of stakeholders including clinicians, investors and health practitioners, enabled us to communicate how our needs-led, evidence based innovation would benefit older people in Greater Manchester and beyond.”

He added that Keep On Keep Up have also benefitted from other support and expertise from Health Innovation Manchester and Trustech.

“We have benefitted directly from the Step into Healthcare Programme and Masterclasses, both in terms of knowledge and understanding of the market and external forces, and networking opportunities with other health organisations facing similar challenges. We have benefitted also from the experience and expertise of Trustech, who have been an effective project manager, supporting the process and facilitating access to external expertise.

“We would recommend the Health Innovation Manchester Momentum Fund to any organisation seeking to accelerate progress to market with a healthcare product or service.”

Gendius

Intellin - Diabetes management platform

Momentum funding enabled Gendius to conduct a final piece of market research for their innovative platform designed as the “ultimate” app to help diabetics better manage their diabetes.

Intellin is an app-based platform using artificial intelligence and an individual’s clinical history to not only track their diabetes but also predict their risk of developing complications. The platform can help them make decisions to reduce their risk of developing complications by sending specific hints, tips and educational content to live better wiith diabetes.

The platform began when Gendius CEO Chris Genders used his own experiences of being diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 50 and saw the need to simplify the “noise” around the initial diagnosis of diabetes. The team wanted to create something which would provide quality evidence-based information which is relevant to the individual and their diabetes. It was also important to them to ensure that any intervention or change to the treatment pathway was proven in terms of efficacy and saving costs.

Using funding from Momentum, Genidus completed a final piece of market research to better understand the patient journey and what people with diabetes would want as their “ultimate” app to help manage their diabetes.

Rory Cameron, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Gendius, said: “The project enabled us to get closer to Research and Development in Salford as well as make some long standing connections for people who now want to help us further develop Intellin.

“The Health Innovation Manchester team were supportive and understanding and they also have lots of useful experiences and contacts.

“We will be launching our commercial version in January and are much more confident that it ‘hits the mark’ based on this research.”

CLiFF Study

Using new technology to improve treatment outcomes

A research study using new technology never before used in the UK to improve outcomes in the treatment of bowel cancer is up and running thanks to Momentum funding.

The CLiFF Study (Change in Liver Function and Fat) aims to improve outcomes in the treatment of bowel cancer that has spread to the liver (CLM – colorectal liver metastases).

Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK and spreads to the liver in around half of people diagnosed. CLM are commonly treated by chemotherapy followed by liver surgery; however chemotherapy can cause changes to liver fat and liver function which may affect the outcomes of the liver surgery

The CLiFF study is using new technology, manufactured by German-based company Humedics GmbH (the LiMAx test), in combination with new MR scanning techniques to provide a detailed assessment of the liver before and after chemotherapy. This information will help to plan the safest treatment for patients with this common condition.

The CLiFF Study, which is sponsored by the University of Manchester, was set up with multiple funding sources from industry (Humedics GmbH), public funding (National Institute of Health Research) and charitable funds (Christie Charitable funds). However additional funding was required to enable the supervising team to employ a clinical researcher to start running the study.

After contacting Health Innovation Manchester and successfully gaining funding from the Momentum Fund, the HInM Innovation Nexus team provided introductions and facilitated initial discussions across all the parties involved in the study to set up non-disclosure agreements and enabled further collaboration.

HInM Innovation NEXUS delivery team provided an introduction to the Manchester liver surgeons who incorporated the LiMAx test into the CLiFF Study. After providing the introduction, the NEXUS team facilitated initial discussions by setting up tri-party non-disclosure agreements, enabling discussions to progress.

Kat Parmar, clinical research fellow, said: “The combination of the Momentum Fund award and the resulting further funding leveraged from the University of Manchester enabled the study to get off the ground and resulted in the first use of the LiMAx test within the UK.

“HInM have continued to support the CLiFF study by supporting an educational evening featuring international expert speakers. This increased awareness of both Humedics’ LiMAx test and the CLiFF study amongst regional clinicians specialising in the treatment of cancer and liver disease.”

She added that the initial support provided by HInM has allowed the CLiFF Study to progress and expand, with further funding leveraged and collaboration partners recruited.

Kat said: “We highly recommend the Momentum Fund application process and working with HInM, as they have provided invaluable support in establishing our partnership with Humedics and getting the CLiFF Study up and running.”