MTPConnect has announced that nearly $900,000 in funding has been awarded to three major medical technology projects, with two based in WA.
The funding, an initiative of the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), comes from round four of the BioMedTech (BMTH) program.
Stuart Dignam, MTPConnect CEO, said the program is designed to facilitate the development of the Australian medical device sector.
“Targeted funding provided through our BMTH program addresses gaps in early biomedical and medical technology product development and this round focused on the further development of pre-commercial prototypes entering human clinical trials,” Mr Dignam said.
From the three selected projects, patients in the future are set to benefit from improved outcomes when they are anaesthetised; better diagnosis, treatment and management of functional gastrointestinal disorders; and better predictive tests, diagnosis and treatment for diabetic kidney disease.
Stuart Dignam
Mr Dignam noted that the power of the program is that within a year thee teams will be able to take steps that further commercialises their medical technologies such as the manufacture of devices for trials and regulatory approvals.
“The funding we’ve allocated to these projects has leveraged an additional $1.04 million in contributions from industry which means a total of $1.94 million is flowing into our healthtech sector,” Mr Dignam added.
Due to the realignment of some budget and activities, the BMTH program has been able to commit funding to support the winning projects, with round four originally announced in September last year.
BMTH Round 4 recipients
Cortical Dynamics Ltd received $137,000 to further the development of their Brain Anaesthesia Response Monitor to optimise patient experience under anaesthesia, and to implement brain data feedback and monitoring.
ASX-listed Proteomics International received $413,516 to further development of the patented PromarkerD test which predicts diabetic kidney disease. The grant will also facilitate the establishment of an onshore manufacturing capability.
Dr Richard Lipscombe, Proteomics International managing director, said the funding would supplement the Company’s existing manufacturing strategy and budget.
It will support future manufacture of the PromarkerD test for Australia and South-East Asia by building upon Proteomics International’s specialised ISO 13485 Quality Control and Quality Assurance certification. We see enormous sales potential in this region once we complete local regulatory and reimbursement approvals.
Richard Lipscombe
“This funding will also help our activities towards obtaining TGA approval [ASX: 28 April] and registration of PromarkerD under the Medical Benefits Scheme [ASX: 22 February].”
The third recipient was Victorian-based Atmo Biosciences Pty Ltd which received $343,310 towards the development of their Atmo Gas Capsule through clinical trials to better diagnose and treat gastrointestinal. They had also received funding during the third round of the BMTH program.
So far, the BMTH program has funded 49 projects across the four rounds. The program focuses on biomedical and medical technologies to facilitate the development from proof-of-concept to a validated pre-commercial product attractive for private capital investment and commercialisation.
