Winners of Health Tech Enterprise’s Innovation Voucher competition awarded additional funding for innovative thoracentesis device

Healthcare technology consultancy, Health Tech Enterprise (HTE), has announced the successful procurement of £14,556 of funding for the further development of an innovative thoracentesis device, aimed at greatly improving patient safety during the treatment of pleural effusions.
The funding comes from Addenbrookes Charitable Trust (ACT), the charity for Addenbrooke’s Hospital. ACT invests more than £1m each year into research to improve patient health and the award is from ACT’s Innovation for Patient Benefit grants, which supports life-changing research and innovation. The charity relies on the generosity of its donors, and ensures that every penny is used to have the greatest impact and make its hospitals even better for patients.

The funding has been granted to a Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (“CUH”) team led by Dr Ryan Seguna and Dr Jurgen Herre, who previously won HTE’s Innovation Voucher competition. The Innovation Voucher competition, sponsored by eg technology, recognises the most novel ideas in MedTech innovation, with the winners receiving the equivalent of up to £5000 of eg technology’s time in-kind.
The time in-kind supports the innovators behind the technologies to refine their designs, to then enable the manufacture of prototypes for feasibility testing. HTE’s hands-on support provided to their clients has led to many innovators procuring the funding needed to reach the next stage of product development, and the additional funding now secured from Addenbrookes Charitable Trust will help take the innovative thoracentesis device one step closer to commercialisation.

Commenting on the recent funding grant, Dr Karen Law, Head of Innovation at HTE, said: “We are pleased to support our client’s, CUH, employees, Dr Ryan Seguna and Dr Jurgen Herre, in developing this product which has the potential to greatly improve patient safety. It is always gratifying when we have a direct impact on the development of a product than can improve the patient experience, and the recent funding procurement helps to reiterate the importance of our Innovation Voucher competition.”

Elaborating on the importance of the HTE Innovation Voucher competition, Dr Karen Law continues: “When we launched the competition in 2014, we wanted to offer innovators access to the expertise that is essential to the success of an innovation’s early-stage development. The success of Dr Ryan Seguna and Dr Jurgen Herre demonstrates that the resources provided by HTE have helped them to secure additional funding, and accelerate the development of the thoracentesis device to the prototype stage. Bridging the gap between concept, commercialisation and final roll-out is our key aim, and securing the means to push this product into the next stage of their development has been a rewarding experience for all of the team at HTE.”

HTE’s mission is to build the future of healthcare through technology innovation, and this project is one of multiple which further cements its position at the forefront of the world of healthcare technology consultancy. To date, HTE has partnered with more than 180 technology companies from around the world, and has successfully won over £16M in funding and investment for different stages of product development and commercialisation.