Australian State Launches Second Medical Device Grant Fund

Medical device companies in New South Wales, Austalia, could soon get some help financing their innovation. 
 

The NSW Ministry of Health has launched the second round of the Medical Devices Fund, a $5 million per annum grant program designed to encourage and support investment in the development of medical devices in the state. The second $7.7 million grant fund round covers 2014-15.

Applications currently are open. Final submissions will be by invitation only. Those eligible to submit applications include public and private hospitals, medical research institutes, universities, startups and established small- and midsize firms. Applicants must be based in New South Wales or investing in the state, and they are required to provide evidence that their technology “connects and benefits” the region. 

The grant’s guidelines require device technology to be innovative (new to market or the world), developed locally and supported by intellectual property.  

An expert group, chaired by NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer Professor Mary O’Kane, will assess the applications.
 

The Medical Device Fund initiative was launched in late 2012. During its first round, five companies received grants worth a combined $10.3 million. The companies — selected from a field of 147 applicants — included Elastagen, developer of skin repair/regeneration technology; Endoluminal Sciences, a cardiovascular firm working on a sealant-based device to prevent leakage from around minimally invasive heart valve implants; HEARworks, a spinoff of the Hearing Cooperative Research Centre and National Acoustics Labs that is developing a portable multifunctional instrument (HEARLab) which enables clinicians to assess hearing with automatic cortical tests; mobiLIFE, developer of a portable intravenous pump for home healthcare; and Saluda Medical, developer of an implantable spinal cord stimulation device to treat chronic neuropathic pain.