Oxford Heartbeat secures highly sought-after Innovate UK award

London, August 2021 – A £1.5M grant by Innovate UK (innovation agency supported by the UK government) was awarded to Oxford Heartbeat will help extend the power of Oxford Heartbeat’s cutting-edge AI software, PreSize® Neurovascular. The CE-marked software has demonstrated excellent accuracy and aims to support safe and precise surgical decision making for high-risk brain stenting surgeries.

Dr Katerina Spranger, CEO of Oxford Heartbeat said: “This crucial funding will enable Oxford Heartbeat to boost our efforts to further advance PreSize® technology so that doctors have access to better pre-surgical knowledge and patients can benefit from more positive outcomes.”

For this competition, Innovate UK considered applications from 373 organisations, which was approximately three times the number it typically receives. Following a highly competitive multi-stage selection process, Oxford Heartbeat was announced as one of the 18 winners of the BMC Early Stage award, attaining an exceptionally high score of 90% for the proposed project, which was the third highest score among submitted applications.

As Innovation Lead of Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst, Dr. Michael Kipping, mentioned: “To receive a grant, Oxford Heartbeat had to navigate a two-stage process of written assessment followed by a pitch to our major awards panel comprised of investors, healthcare professionals, academics and industry experts. Oxford Heartbeat clearly articulated a unique, commercially viable approach to an unmet health need. Crucially, it was also apparent that the company had strong visionary leadership and a diverse team with the skills and expertise to deliver a successful project.”

The win illustrates the unwavering support Oxford Heartbeat has received from the BMC, as this is the third BMC award. Previous BMC awards supported Oxford Heartbeat at their infancy to carry out feasibility studies, and hone the PreSize® technology to accurately address the existing clinical need. This BMC award will contribute to Oxford Heartbeat augmenting the existing power of PreSize® with a view to expand its use within the NHS and internationally.

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