A life sciences funding group is offering to help university researchers prove that their digital health ideas are strong enough to turn into real businesses. The QED Proof-of-Concept Program is seeking applications in this space for the first time, according to a statement from the University City Science Center.
Run by the University City Science Center, this program was the first of its kind for life sciences and includes 21 institutions across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Its fifth round, launched today, will support up to 16 projects, six more than in previous rounds, and provide funding for up to four of them. The deadline for application submissions is the end of July.
The electronic medical record mandate was the primary reason for adding the digital health track, particularly with the deadline for implementation coming up.
“There is an increasing demand for commercialization resources among projects in the digital health domain and supporting these projects works to our region’s core strengths,” said Adam Greenspan, the Science Center QED program manager.
It also added two organizations to the program this month: Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania and the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, New Jersey. Penn State in particular adds a significant resource as a research organization.
The QED program is funded with a $1 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, with additional financial support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, the William Penn Foundation and WEXFORD Science & Technology. Last year, the Science Center announced the fundraising initiative to raise $15 million for its program.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
