Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle University collaborate with UK companies to secure over £2.5m to detect and treat illness

Advancing diagnostic tests and shaping the most effective treatment has taken a step forward for patients thanks to a £2.56m award for a collaboration between industry, Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle University.
 
A partnership between Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle University and the North East Innovation Lab (NEIL) provides independent expert support to the health technology industry.
 
The NHS and academic partners who work together under Newcastle’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) have supported innovators to secure £2.56 million funding to continue to develop two key projects to diagnose a wide range of illness and identify the most effective antibiotic treatment.
 
Dr Ashley Price, consultant in infectious diseases at Newcastle Hospitals and clinical lead in infection for the Newcastle based NIHR HRC, said:
 
“It’s really exciting to be working with companies to support the development of innovative technologies which could help to transform the diagnosis of common infections in the community and hospitals.
 
“These technologies will make the process of diagnosis more efficient for clinicians and help to ensure that patients are given the right treatments at the right time.”  
 
Over £1 million awarded to Linear Diagnostics will fund a three-year programme to develop their technology into a portable device which rapidly detects DNA to diagnose sexually transmitted and urinary tract infections. The device is expected to improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis and the effectiveness of treatments.
 
Meanwhile £1.5m awarded to Microplate Dx will fund a two-year programme to develop their technology, which selects the most appropriate antibiotic to treat urinary tract infections and speeds up results for patients, into a final product. By potentially improving how antibiotics are prescribed the technology could also help to tackle antimicrobial resistance, a major global health problem. The partners have already supported Microplate Dx with the development of their prototype.
 
Led by the innovation lab, the project teams will also examine the accuracy of the technologies for real-world patient samples and then score their performance when compared to current practice.
 
Dr Jana Suklan, senior methodologist at the Newcastle based NIHR HRC, said:
 
“The NIHR HRC in Diagnostic and Technology Evaluation is delighted to be collaborating with the innovation lab at Newcastle Hospitals to support Linear Diagnostics and Microplate Dx with their exciting technologies. Through reviewing literature and clinical guidelines and speaking to NHS staff we will pinpoint how these technologies can be developed and used so they can improve patient care. This will include analysing current practice, identifying the most promising point in the patient care pathway for the technologies, and the characteristics the devices should have. We will also examine whether adopting the technology will provide value for money through health economic modelling. Our public contributors will guide the research and ensure it meets the needs of patients, public and carers.”
 
Dr John Tyson, head of the North East Innovation Lab, part of Newcastle Hospitals, said:
 
“This is an exciting opportunity to continue our work with innovators to support the development and evaluation of their devices, which aim to improve the detection of illness and help to guide the most effective treatment for patients.”
 
The funding has come from the NIHR Invention for Innovation Product Development Award competition.