PLN 100 million to finance innovative medical devices

Currently, Polish exports of medical devices are worth EUR 2.4 billion. According to the Patent Office, in 2020, 14 thousand. patents for medical devices and 8 thousand. for drugs, which shows the enormous potential of investment in this area. The analysis of the biomedical market shows that there are many entities operating in Poland, incl. start-ups with great potential for the development of medical devices, however, they do not have sufficient resources to finance the performance assessment and certification required by regulations in order to bring them to the market.

Recently, the medical community has high hopes for the use of artificial intelligence as a tool enabling the analysis of collections of both current and historical medical data. AI may be particularly important in relation to diseases that are difficult to diagnose and treat, due to their diversified course or low prevalence, as is the case with the so-called rare or ultra-rare diseases, as well as diseases from areas such as oncologies, in which multi-stage imaging and molecular diagnostics as well as evaluation of treatment effects are carried out.

- This type of sectoral support for the medical devices market is unprecedented and has never taken place in our country before. In the longer term, it will be possible to commercialize these products and introduce them to the market. This may be our national specialty - summarizes the president of the Medical Research Agency, dr hab. n. med. Radosław Sierpiński.

Which projects are eligible for funding?

The subject of the application for funding under the competition may be projects at various stages of development - both those in the concept phase and projects requiring only development work. Funding is provided for basic research, industrial research and development work. Regardless of the phase of the Project at the moment of its commencement, the results of its implementation must be commercialized. The result of the project implementation should be the production of the product and its placing on the market.

Tools based on AI have the potential to support medical personnel in making therapeutic decisions, therefore medical devices based on artificial intelligence in this competition will be additionally rewarded.

The second area, additionally rewarded in the competition, are medical devices in the field of robotics. This dynamically developing field is to facilitate the work of doctors of many specialties by supporting the performance of medical activities. In addition to the already used surgical, rehabilitation or patient care robots, the first attempts to use nanobots are observed, e.g. in the area of ​​diagnostics, drug delivery or less invasive surgery. Along with the development of nanotechnology, the effects of this field will be intensively disseminated, which may result in the potential implementation of Polish medical devices on global markets.

Improving the quality of medical services while reducing costs

Support for the medical devices market in Poland by the Medical Research Agency is to contribute to the improvement of the situation of Polish patients by providing them with modern diagnostic and treatment methods, and is also aimed at strengthening institutional cooperation and the position of clinical centers or Polish entities operating in the field of medical devices .

- We are opening up to business, so that thanks to the financial support from the state, the medical devices market can develop freely. We are currently seeing a growing demand for medical services, with a simultaneous shortage of medical personnel. Investments in new medical technologies will therefore translate not only into direct access for patients to the latest solutions, but will also reduce the costs of medical services - emphasizes the President of ABM.

Details of the competition are available at: https://konkurs.abm.gov.pl/#/