NSW Health and Cicada partner on medtech training program

Deep tech incubator Cicada Innovations has been selected by NSW Health as delivery partner for the NSW Health Commercialisation Training Program, a free training program for NSW-based biotech and medtech professionals and academics.

The program aims to fast-track innovative ideas that will revolutionise the healthcare sector, improve patient outcomes and provide economic opportunities for emerging medtech businesses in NSW. It builds on NSW Health’s Medical Device Commercialisation Training Program, also delivered by Cicada Innovations, which nurtured a series of revolutionary medtech innovations such as Tetratherix’s (formerly Trimph) ‘bone glue’ and Beyond 700’s tear film, currently being used by NASA.

The original program reached over 1000 workshop attendees with 96 core program graduates, created 19 companies and raised over $77 million worth of funding, within just six years. Recruitment for the new program begins this month, with the aim of attracting a wide variety of medical device technologists, clinicians, postdoctoral researchers, and medtech and biotech entrepreneurs.

Delivered online and in person, the program will be repeated on a yearly basis over four years; however, participants can progress through it at their own pace. By its conclusion, participants are expected to have formulated their intended commercialisation journey covering idea validation, customer identification, stakeholder engagement and a realistic roadmap to market. They will also have formed deep and valuable connections with the NSW health ecosystem.

Notable program delivery partners will include ANDHealth, a leading provider of accelerator, incubator and commercialisation programs for digital health technology companies, and Cicada incubatee SpeeDx, a medical diagnostic company and two-time Medical Devices Fund recipient which has raised over $15 million in capital and partnered with large, multinational diagnostic companies for distribution and test development.

Dr Dharmica Mistry, Head of Medtech and Biotech at Cicada Innovations, said, “It’s an honour to be selected to deliver such a critical program, and to support the NSW Government in its mission to develop medical technologies of the future and build capabilities within the healthcare sector.

“Cicada Innovations is committed to building a collaborative innovation ecosystem in NSW. It takes a wide breadth of expertise and know-how to set fledgling entrepreneurs up for success as they look to commercialise their technologies, and we believe this is the exact skillset that Cicada Innovations brings.

“It takes years for these innovations to come to market and have an impact. We look forward to fostering collaboration across the medtech and biotech ecosystem, and delivering multifaceted and impactful support to these innovators who are paving the way for the future of healthcare.”

Brownyn Le Grice, CEO and MD of ANDHealth, added, “Australia has an unprecedented opportunity to lead the world in medical technology innovation and commercialisation. But this will only come from the best minds working collaboratively to change the way healthcare interventions are designed and delivered.

“ANDHealth is pleased to be partnering with Cicada Innovations and NSW Health to deliver the NSW Health Commercialisation Training Program, which will drive meaningful innovation and commercialisation outcomes for medical technology innovators.

“We congratulate NSW Health for its focus on building the capabilities required to build a robust medical technology industry that will be commercially sustainable and improve outcomes for patients.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/fizkes

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