News & Events

Jillian Skinner

Minister for Health

Tuesday 11 October 2016:

$8.6 MILLION FOR INNOVATIVE MEDICAL DEVICES

Four companies have been granted $8.6 million through the NSW Government’s Medical Devices Fund to bring their innovative medical technologies to market.

Health Minister Jillian Skinner presented the fourth annual Medical Devices Fund (MDF) grants at NSW Parliament House. The grants, which will help develop new medical devices and deliver hope for people with a range of medical ailments, were awarded to:

• Elastagen Pty Ltd ($4 million): for Elastatherapy, a skin regeneration and wound repair product based on its unique tropoelastin-based biomaterial platform used in the surgical treatment of severe scars.
• Nano-X Pty Ltd ($2.5 million): for Nano‐X, a smarter and smaller cancer radiotherapy machine that will enable affordable, accessible best‐practice radiotherapy in resource‐limited areas.
• Respiratory Innovations Pty Ltd ($1.3 million): for Breathe Well, a device that provides breast cancer patients with breath hold instructions to reduce the risk of radiotherapy causing unnecessary and potentially fatal radiation heart damage.
• HEARworks Pty Ltd ($750,000): For the development of the Auditory Cortical Discrimination (ACORD) test to assist clinicians in deciding which hearing‐impaired infants should receive cochlear implants.

Mrs Skinner said the government is determined to capitalise on the growth of the state’s medical technology industry through the MDF, a key election commitment.

“This year’s winners offer a range of pioneering devices with the potential to transform the delivery of health care and deliver life-saving benefits for patients,” she said.

Since the first round in 2013, the MDF has helped multiple companies establish successful products, including Saluda Medical, which received $5 million and is about to celebrate the 12-month anniversary of its first pain relief device being implanted in a NSW patient.

Atomo Diagnostics, which received $1.8 million in the 2015 round for its rapid ‘self-testing’ HIV test, recently received a $6 million investment from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

An independent expert panel, chaired by NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer Professor Mary O’Kane, selected this year’s MDF grant recipients.

The NSW Government annually invests more than $8 million in the MDF. For more information on the recipients of the 2016 MDF, visit: www.health.nsw.gov.au/ohmr/mdf

MEDIA: Blake Hardy | Minister Skinner | 0413 378 770