EIT Health RIS Innovation Call backs 16 healthcare consortia

The call supports innovation from emerging Europe

Fifteen innovative healthcare projects, involving consortia from eight countries in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, have been chosen for support through the EIT Health RIS Innovation Call for 2020. Now in its second year, the call, put out by the EIT Health Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS), supports development of healthcare innovation in regions that are rated as progressing by the European Innovation Scoreboard.

Picked from among 82 applicants, the 16 successful proposals will receive up to €75,000 in 2020 for further development of their breakthrough product or solution, as well as expert mentoring and access to EIT Health’s network of top-tier healthcare players in Europe. Romania had the most successful proposals, with four, and Portugal had the second-most, with three.

“Our aim is to foster the next generation of innovators and support establishing of budding new healthcare businesses. And it’s more than giving funding. We identify and enhance best local researchers to build consortia, involving other players from business or academia. In the long-term perspective they can achieve a maturity level that would enable them to monetise their innovation or scale up their business,” said Mónika Tóth, EIT Health InnoStars RIS Programme Manager.

The range of healthcare solutions receiving support include patches for psoriasis treatment and an active 3D cell culture system for primary hepatocytes (liver cells). Nearly 60% of the consortia awarded through the call focus on big data, cloud solutions, mobile apps and digital platforms –a reflection of the global trend. Because healthcare providers create and collect a huge amount of health-related information every day, there is an urgent need for these providers to be able to access and interpret data.

Four winners to share podium

In 2020 Romania (4), Portugal (3), Slovenia (2), and Italy (3) finished among the most successful countries in terms of awarded consortia. Other supported projects come from Croatia, Czechia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia.

The supported projects, which will all be completed by the end of 2020, focus on:

• AI driven IP intelligence engine for early stage drug discovery (Latvia)
• Big Data software services for decision support in precision medicine (Italy)
• HEAL4LIV – Innovative robotic system for cancer treatment (Romania)

• Diagnostic and follow-up system based on artificial intelligence algorithms and transthoracic ultrasound image analysis for diffuse lung diseases (Romania)
• Remote therapy management in chronic heart failure patients (Slovenia)
• Patches for psoriasis treatment (Lithuania)
• Libra – digital platform for promoting and sustaining healthy behaviours in obesity (Portugal)
• Strengthening intergenerational playing cards (Slovenia)
• TULLY – wearable device for emotion monitoring and control for children diagnosed with ADHD (Romania)
• FRADE – pervasive platform for fall detection, fall risk assessment and prevention (Portugal)
• HepaMATRIX – active 3D cell culture system for primary hepatocytes (Czechia)
• Adherence to hypertension treatment and blood pressure self-monitoring using embedded smartphone camera and advanced image processing (Portugal)
• 3D Virtual Navigation which integrates high resolution stereo depth camera with medical imaging systems with ‘in the air’ real control of surgeon’s hands (Croatia)
• Improvements of an existing 3D freehand ultrasound periodontal scanner prototype using bidimensional neural networks driven segmentation techniques (Romania)
• FGD Dosimeter – a fast and precise dosimeter to improve cancer therapies carried out with radiation (Italy)
• Mindlenses to improve cognitive rehabilitation (Italy)

More about EIT Health RIS Innovation Call:

In total the EIT Health RIS Innovation Call supported 28 consortia of healthcare innovators in 2019-2020 from more progressing European regions. After the last year’s success, the programme continued this year with the aim to fund high-quality, strong and balanced projects by local academic institutions and research teams. The projects will be developed in collaboration with the EIT Health Hubs, local organisations that support regional ecosystem development: Asociatia INIT & Freshblood HealthTech Community in Romania,  University of Porto in Portugal,  Ljubljana University Incubator in Slovenia, Consorzio Arca in Italy,  University of Zagreb in Croatia,  DEX Innovation Centre in Czech Republic,  Riga Stradins University in Latvia, and Lithuanian University of Health Sciences.