Innovate UK is pleased to announce the winners of a funding competition to develop new clinical tools for dementia and neurodegeneration. Ten new projects will receive funding for identification, development and commercialisation of biomarker tools and technologies.
The competition has been focused on enhancing clinical trials and precision therapies for dementia patients and is a significant step towards advancing dementia research and therapy development. Innovate UK has awarded over £6 million in funding to 10 innovative organisations through its Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI).
This Innovate UK investment forms an important part of the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission, a government-led effort committed to realising a new generation of precision dementia therapies and solutions for the UK. The funding competition sought innovative solutions to address the complexities of dementia, a disease known to manifest and progress differently in different patients.
The funds will empower organisations to develop customised tools using state-of-the-art technologies and repurposed innovations. The goal is to address the pressing need for improved clinical tools capable of identifying suitable patients for clinical trials and tailoring treatments accordingly.
Dr Cynthia Bullock, Deputy Director of the Healthy Ageing Challenge at Innovate UK, said: “Dementia’s complexity demands a personalised approach, and the development of biomarker tools is paramount in ensuring that we can tailor therapies to individual patients."
The successful projects are:
Cumulus Neuroscience Ltd
Optimising blood biomarker accuracy for clinical trials and healthcare using artificial intelligence and digital biomarkers
Cortirio Ltd
Portable brain imaging: a biomarker platform for dementia
Cambridge Vision Technology Ltd
A-eye scope: a standardized, scalable tool for point-of-care, early-stage dementia pre-screening
IXICO Technologies Ltd
Dementia diagnostic platform with integrated AI-based decision support for decision enabling biomarkers
University of Nottingham
BBDLB: A novel multiplex plasma extracellular vesicle RNA biomarker assay for improving clinical diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies
Quantified Imaging Ltd
Automated measurement of quantitative dementia biomarkers from arterial spin labelling MRI
Esya Ltd
Multi-analyte blood-based biomarker panel for diagnosis of Alzheimer’s diseases
Fraunhofer UK Research Ltd
Dementia biomarker detection using resonant Raman spectroscopy at point of need
Cfdx Ltd
A liquid biopsy platform technology to transform dementia clinical biomarkers using advanced deep learning
Occuity Ltd
The Aβ+ Reader: A novel hyperspectral fluorescence-lifetime imaging device for detection of dementia biomarkers in the lens of the eye