New competition to encourage kidney care treatment innovation

The government has launched a new competition to encourage small businesses to develop innovative new therapy approaches to improve kidney care.

Funded by the Department of Health through the Small Business Research Initiative, the contest invites firms to submit proposals covering the prevention of kidney disease, facilitating earlier diagnosis, giving kidney failure patients greater independence and enabling treatment closer to home.

It is expected that the money will be shared among eight and 12 small businesses, with a funding pot of 3.6 million pounds set to be made available.

The deadline for entries is midday on November 25th 2013, with winning proposals to be announced in January 2014.

Health minister Norman Lamb said: "These competitions represent vital investment in health research, which is good news for patients, for the research sector and for the economy, creating jobs and growth so the UK can compete in the global race."

Chronic kidney disease is mainly associated with ageing and it is estimated that about one in five men and one in four women between the ages of 65 and 74 are affected by the condition in some way.