Funded projects
Technology Transfer has committed over £304 million to translational projects across 80 institutions and in excess of 50 companies. On aggregate, over £532m has been generated in third-party finance for these projects.
The types of project we support span computational chemistry to drug discovery, vaccine formulation and human proof-of-principle studies for medical devices, diagnostics and candidate pharmaceutical compositions. Therapeutic areas include cancer, the central nervous system, infectious diseases, inflammation, metabolism, tissue and wound healing.
The projects we have funded can be split broadly into the following areas:
- diagnostics
- enabling technology
- regenerative medicine
- therapeutics (including Seeding Drug Discovery)
- vaccine
- medical devices
Health Innovation Challenge Fund
The Health Innovation Challenge Fund (HICF) is a parallel funding partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health. The funders are collaborating to stimulate the creation of innovative healthcare products, technologies and interventions, and facilitate their development for the benefit of patients in the NHS and beyond. The HICF has a succession of thematic calls for proposals, each selected to focus on unmet needs in healthcare relevant to the NHS. The HICF offers translational funding to progress innovative approaches to healthcare from the proof-of-concept stage to early clinical studies in man. A number of projects have now been funded.
R&D for Affordable Healthcare in India
In July 2010, a £45 million jointly funded partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, was announced to support research and development projects that would provide innovative healthcare products at affordable costs. The aim is to bring together researchers from both the public and private sectors, largely working in India, to develop new medical devices, diagnostics, medicines, vaccines etc. that will reach the greatest numbers of beneficiaries, without compromising on quality.
During a successful pilot of the concept by the Wellcome Trust, a number of projects have been funded. These projects cover a wide range of applications including new treatments for tuberculosis, cardiovascular disease and a stem-cell-based therapy to restore sight in damaged corneas.
