The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the National Health Innovation Centre Singapore (NHIC) are teaming up to fast-track healthcare innovations across the UK and Singapore that address unmet, shared clinical needs.
Opening this month, the i4i-LeapX joint funding opportunity from NIHR's Invention for Innovation (i4i) and NHIC’s LeapX programmes is designed to support the development and use of later stage health innovations towards clinical impact and commercialisation.
By funding activities such as clinical validation, regulatory clearance, health economics and real-world evaluation, i4i-LeapX will help generate the necessary clinical and commercial evidence. This will enable innovations to navigate regulatory pathways, de-risk, and support market entry within both healthcare systems, ensuring patients in both nations benefit from cutting-edge research and transformative health solutions.
The UK and Singapore face many similar healthcare challenges, from ageing populations, rising chronic disease burdens, and increased healthcare needs. This funding opportunity is designed to address these challenges faced by both nations as well as deepen collaborations between the UK and Singapore.
While proposals that clearly address an identified unmet clinical need are eligible, i4i-LeapX is specifically looking for projects that align with national health priorities for both nations. For the UK, this includes supporting the 10-Year Health Plan’s three core shifts (moving care from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and treatment to prevention) or the five 'big bet' technologies (data, AI, genomics, wearables, and robotics).
For Singapore, this includes aligning with the Healthier SG strategy and the Ministry of Health/National Medical Research Council’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030 priorities. This focuses on preventative health and chronic disease management, community-based care, precision health and healthy ageing, coupled with technology enablement and digitalisation (including AI, wearables, genomics and robotics).
Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), said: "In our 20th anniversary year, this partnership with the NHIC underscores the NIHR’s commitment to driving innovations that transform patient care. The i4i-LeapX cross-border funding opportunity will directly support the UK’s 10-Year Health Plan by leveraging AI, digital and preventative technologies to shift care from hospitals into the community. This partnership is an excellent example of international collaboration – together, we are fast-tracking groundbreaking healthtech to get proven treatments to patients faster and improve lives in both nations."
The funding opportunity requires joint applications from collaborators in the UK and Singapore, ensuring projects benefit from the unique strengths of both health systems. Eligible technologies include later stage medtech, in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) and digital health technologies originating from the UK or Singapore.
Projects can receive up to £500,000 for the UK component and SGD $750,000 for the Singapore component. This will span over 24 months to undertake clinical validation to support adoption in either or both countries. The UK component is funded by DHSC via NIHR and the Singapore component by NHIC.
Click here to view the funding opportunity.