Merck and Wayra to tackle NHS funding gap with startup rewards programme
pharmafile | September 25, 2015 | News story | Research and Development | MSD, Merck
Merck Sharpe and Dohme (MSD) and Wayra Open Future, Telefonica’s digital start up accelerator, are investing in digital innovation in healthcare to address the challenges outlined in the NHS Five Year Forward View, with the launch of Velocity Health.
The pair have partnered to challenge the digital start-up community to create solutions that reimagine how healthcare can be delivered to help improve patient outcomes, in what is being billed as the UK’s first digital preventative healthcare accelerator programme.
A selected number of startups will be chosen for a 10-month accelerator programme, in which a network of mentors, coaches and investors will nurture the entrepreneurial talent and technological expertise of each business to enable the development of innovative products and services to help deliver savings and efficiencies to the healthcare system.
Up to £64,000 will be offered in investment to each start-up, a figure comprised from 50% funds, and the other £32,000 made up of dedicated acceleration services such as access to the network of mentors, coaches and investors, as well as office space within Wayra Open Future’s academy in Central London and potentially, access to Telefonica’s customer base of more than 300 million and Merck’s local and global networks.
“Technology is revolutionising how we manage healthcare and the UK can be at the heart of it,” says Mike Nally, managing director of MSD. “Digital start-ups are at the forefront of this innovation. As a healthcare company with a long legacy of investing in innovation and R&D, we want to actively invest in these types of businesses and harness the amazing talent that is emerging so that we become equally good at ‘recognising and preventing’ disease as ‘diagnosing and treating’ to help reduce demand for expensive acute services and capacity in the long term.”
The preventable health sector has been selected as the initial focus for the programme. At present, only 4% of the NHS budget is spent on prevention programmes, and with the health service’s much-publicised funding gap, estimated at £30bn by 2020/21, both MSD and Wayra Open Future believe that patients taking greater responsibility for managing their health, and engaging in prevention activities, could lead to better patient outcomes and a more cost-effective healthcare system fit for the future.
Gary Stewart, director at Wayra Open Future, UK, comments: “We know that to make a real impact, we need to have a long term vision and look ahead to the next century of delivering innovative healthcare solutions. Through Velocity Health, we want to empower patients to take more control and ownership over their wellbeing and believe emerging digital technologies have a vital part to play in achieving this goal.”
Joel Levy
Related Content
TILT Biotherapeutics shares data on TILT-123 with Keytruda for ovarian cancer treatment
TILT Biotherapeutics has announced promising preliminary safety and efficacy data from its ongoing phase 1 …
FDA approves Merck’s Winrevair for PAH treatment
Merck, known as MSD outside of the US and Canada, has announced that the US …
Merck shares results for Keytruda in cervical cancer treatment
Merck, known as MSD outside of the US and Canada, has announced positive results from …
