Pfizer to support healthtech start-ups in hope of NHS adoption
Three healthtech start-ups have been selected by biopharmaceutical company Pfizer to help get their technologies adopted onto the NHS.
The companies. Echo, Cera and GiveVision will be supported by the Pfizer Healthcare Hub: London. The start-ups will work together with Pfizer to identify the areas they can get the most benefit from support over the next 12 months. Pfizer will offer the companies access to its network of partners to help improve the experiences for doctors and patient outcomes.
The Pfizer Healthcare Hub: London was created to support established start-up companies that are working with health and technology.
The start-ups were selected by a panel of judges across various health, education and business support organisations.
The start-ups
Cera is a technology-enabled home care provider that uses automatic matching, online care reports and other technologies to help keep elderly people living at home.
Echo is a free app that lets users order NHS prescriptions and medication straight to their door.
GiveVision offers a wearable headset (Sightplus) to help improve vision for certain forms of visual impairment.
Pfizer UK’s medical director Dr Berkeley Phillips said: “We were deeply impressed by the quality of healthtech start-ups operating in the UK who applied to be a part of the Healthcare Hub. It was an incredibly tough decision to narrow the shortlist down to a final three, but Echo, Cera and GiveVision stood out with their ability to demonstrate how their technology could deliver real benefits across our health system today. We’re excited to be working with them over the next year as part of our wider programme of digital innovation and look forward to seeing the impact of their technology on clinicians and patients.”
Dr Ben Maruthappu, co-founder and president of Cera, said: “Pfizer’s knowledge of and relationships with the UK healthcare system will be invaluable in helping Cera scale over the year ahead. Our aim is to work together to radically improve how homecare is delivered in London and beyond, making it quicker, more reliable, more transparent and of the highest quality. Our partnership with Pfizer will also be instrumental in helping us deliver medicines and new therapeutics to the elderly, which could be life-changing.”
Stephen Bourke, co-founder and CXO of Echo, said: “We’re thrilled to have been selected by Pfizer to take part in the first year of the Healthcare Hub. We passionately believe technology can make life easier for patients and doctors alike and look forward to working together toward a system that promotes innovation to drive efficiency, cost savings and better health outcomes.”
GiveVision’s founder and CEO Stan Karpenko said: “We founded GiveVision because we saw the potential of technology to make a difference where it’s needed most. Working with Pfizer will help us to put our technology into the hands of those that need it most to positively impact lives.”