Luxembourg's Ministry of the Economy, the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) and Luxinnovation have announced the results of their second joint call for projects in the field of health technology (HealthTech).
Two projects were selected, following five expressions of interest. The first project selected is a clinical study of fluorescence-guided surgery, using augmented reality, "FLUAR-Clinical", used in the treatment of patients with breast cancer. The project is being carried out by the startup Arspectra in partnership with the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) and the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL).
The second project selected is a large-scale clinical study to demonstrate the effectiveness of a new software intended to be used as a medical device (SaMD) whose objective is to monitor the progression as well as the reaction to treatment of multiple sclerosis. It is supported by the company Myelin-H, in partnership with the Luxembourg Institute of Science of Technology (LIST) and Rehazenter.
The ministry, the FNR and Luxinnovation recalled that a first call for projects launched in 2021 saw the selection of four projects for funding. They launched a second call for HealthTech projects in 2023 via a digital platform. The Health Directorate was also involved in the process of evaluating projects with a view to funding under its hospital medical research subsidy programme.
The theme of this second joint call for projects was the use of digital tools to improve the prevention, diagnosis, monitoring or treatment of health conditions in order to improve public health or increase patient autonomy, for example at home or in a healthcare environment. It aimed to stimulate collaborative R&D projects, in the form of public-private partnerships (PPPs), and to provide financial support to collaborating companies and research and healthcare organisations, to assess the relevance of a health technology/product/solution, its technological advantages and benefits for human health.
The total budget for these two projects is estimated at €3.344 million. Overall co-financing of about €1.358 million comes from the Ministry of the Economy, which finances the private actors involved, while €993,251 is co-financed by the FNR which finances the research organisations. Added to this is €50,000 from the Health Directorate for the FLUAR-Clinical project. The difference represents the companies' equity contribution. Project consortia were required to include at least one company eligible for funding from the ministry and one organisation eligible for funding from the FNR.
The selection process took place in several phases. During a first phase, consortia were invited to submit an initial version of their project expressing their interest. A pre-selection was then carried out and the consortia were invited to submit full project proposals. The projects were then submitted for opinion to a panel of FNR experts, involving a representative of the Health Directorate, and then to the state aid advisory commission.
Selected projects
- The FLUAR-Clinical project of the Foetz-based startup Arspectra, developing augmented reality systems for medical applications, focuses on sentinel lymph node resection in the treatment of breast cancer patients. It mainly consists of the clinical evaluation and validation of guided surgery technologies, using augmented reality, by FLUAR fluorescence. This FLUAR-Clinical clinical project focuses on collaborative research efforts between Arspectra, the LIH and the CHL. Total budget: €1.716 million.
- The project of Myelin-H, a neurotechnology company created in 2021 in Esch-sur-Alzette developing software allowing real-time and remote monitoring and diagnosis of neurological diseases, consists of carrying out a large-scale clinical study on several sites in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of a new SaMD whose objective is the remote monitoring (at home) of the evolution of multiple sclerosis and response to treatment. This SaMD is intended to become reimbursable in Europe as a digital technology for the management, monitoring and treatment of multiple sclerosis after full CE certification. Total budget: €1.628 million.
Luxembourg's Minister of Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles, commented: "By allowing companies to technically and clinically validate their medical products at the prototype stage, before they are placed on the market, these calls projects help companies to more quickly develop products better adapted to the needs of patients, and also allow health professionals and patients to benefit earlier from the latest medical innovations before they are placed on the market. Everyone comes out a winner."
"Research and scientific results are the foundation of progress and innovation. Technological advances and medical breakthroughs are all deeply rooted in rigorous research. By actively exploiting research findings, we can drive meaningful change in society and the economy. This is why initiatives such as our joint call for health technologies are crucial: they encourage the practical application of research to drive positive change," added Andreea Monnat, Acting Secretary General of the FNR.
"In the field of health technologies, collaboration between researchers, companies and health professionals is essential," noted Sasha Baillie, CEO of Luxinnovation. "It helps validate innovations, accelerate their clinical adoption and improve patient care. As an innovation agency, we have the crucial role of facilitating these collaborations, by connecting key players and supporting the implementation of joint projects as part of this joint call for projects."
Similar calls for joint projects, particularly in the fields of defence, high-performance computing and 5G technologies, have also been launched. Further details are available online at https://research-industry-collaboration.lu/.
