DigitAS St Andrews‘ Professor Alex Baldacchino was clinical lead for the Reducing Drug Deaths Innovation Challenge, a £5 million UK-wide initiative that aimed to reduce fatal overdoses and other drug-related harms. NHS Fife was selected to manage the project by the Chief Scientist Office and UK Office of Life Science.
Professor Baldacchino said of the initiative:
The new Reducing Drug Deaths Innovation Challenge presents us with a unique opportunity to bring together the collective expertise of teams from both north and south of the border to better tackle drug-related harms. It is also a unique opportunity when health and social care can work together with universities and industry on making a difference.
It is vitally important that we develop new and innovative ways to help us reduce the numbers of drug-related deaths across the UK. This initiative will enable us to utilise the range of emerging technologies available to us to help reduce the numbers of those who lose their lives as a result of substance misuse.
The challenge supported both the UK Government’s drugs strategy, From harm to hope: a 10-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives, and the Scottish Government’s National Mission on Drugs.
Eleven projects (listed below) were awarded up to £100,000 each to launch 4-month feasibility studies to develop prototypes, with one additional project securing up to £500,000 for a year-long demonstration study to collect real-world evidence with residents of homeless accommodation. Three of the 11 projects delivered their projects with the South East Scotland Innovation Hub, which includes NHS Fife.
Seven of the 12 were awarded phase 2 funding to further develop and demonstrate their innovations in real world settings. The innovations supported include wearables and sensor technology, novel antidote formulations, and AI enabled applications and tools.
Projects funded through this challenge call were:
- Saving SAM
System for Alert and Monitoring of Potential Overdoses – eMoodie in partnership with the University of Edinburgh and NHS Scotland Health Innovation South East Scotland (HISES). This project will design and develop Saving SAM, an AI-enabled drug overdose monitoring system to enable both self and responder digital alerts - DoseCare
Development and Evaluation of a Wearable-Integrated, AI-Powered Overdose Detection and Response System – Manchester Metropolitan University in partnership with Queen’s University of Belfast, Drug and Alcohol Research Network (Northern Ireland) and the Salvation Army. This project aims to harness the power of AI to revolutionise overdose detection and prevention mechanisms in healthcare. By focusing on 2 distinct user groups with varying levels of risk awareness, they intend to develop tailored solutions that significantly improve patient outcomes and enhance overall care delivery utilising wearable technologies and smart phone applications - Ultra-portable fast-dispersal buccal naloxone for constant carriage: testing feasibility and acceptability
King’s College London in partnership with Catalent, Accord Health, Scottish Drug Forum, Scottish Families affected by Alcohol and Drugs (SFAD), DrugFAM, the Health Innovation Network and the South London Academic Health Science Network (AHSN). Naloxone is an opioid overdose antidote, however, existing naloxone products are bulky and have very low carriage rates. This feasibility project will examine a proposed ultra-portable fast-dispersal naloxone tablet suitable for constant carriage, so that it is always present with an individual who is present at an overdose emergency - LifeSavr Unobtrusive Wearable Device to Detect Overdose
NOMW Health Limited in partnership with the University of Southampton and NHS Scotland West of Scotland Innovation Hub. The study will focus on assessing the technical, economic, and operational aspects of the ‘LifeSavr’ device, which uses advanced sensor technology to provide real-time detection of opioid overdoses - Drug Overdose Detection and Response using Care and Respond with CHAI999
Led by Science and Engineering Applications Ltd in partnership with Welsh and Scottish Ambulance Services. This project aims to explore the functionality of digital tools that can empower friends and family to support drug users and respond in the event of an overdose and link with emergency services to facilitate a co-ordinated response - Vivisco Smart Revive Beacon for Opiate Overdose
Vivisco in partnership with the Kent Surrey Sussex AHSN, Forward Trust, Kent County Council and the Southeast Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. Vivisco will work with organisations in Kent to co-design and prototype an automatic alert system to contact emergency services with GPS location and type of antidote used that is triggered when a naloxone package is opened - Improving Harm Reduction Strategies for Illicit Drug Use: a Handheld Device for self-monitoring Benzodiazepine use
ZiO Health Ltd working with Health Innovation South East Scotland (HISES). ZiO-Health’s feasibility project is focused on improving harm reduction strategies for illicit drug use by developing a handheld therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) device to notify users and responders of potential overdose - In Time Naloxone
DroneMatLab Limited (King’s College London spinout) in partnership with the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths, HeroTech8, Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, University of Southampton and Wessex Academic Health Science Network. The project aims to develop an effective emergency response for the distribution of naloxone (an opioid overdose antidote), by drone to prevent opioid overdoses becoming fatal - RescuePatch
A controlled-release combination patch for naloxone and flumazenil delivery – MESOX LTD in partnership with Health Innovation Southeast Scotland (HISES), Aston University, the National Physical Laboratory and On Target Pharma. This project will investigate a novel transdermal patch combination therapy called RescuePatch. The patch will contain a reservoir of antidotes to both opioid and benzodiazepine overdoses ad is designed to be applied by a non-professional, which is expected to improve responder pathways and increase the chance of patient survival - Co-Evaluation Study of Overdose Detection and Response Wristband Technology
Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT) in partnership with Brave, Keele University, Two Saints Housing Association and the West Midlands Academic Health Science Network. To combat the growing problem of self-administrating drug users from overdosing, a multi-organisation collaborative led by MPFT propose to develop a wearable piece of technology that detects absence in user movements and alerts the individual or surrounding people to need for intervention - Soft skin-interfacing strain sensor for overdose detection and prevention (ASSESSOR)
University of Glasgow in partnership with NHS Scotland West of Scotland Innovation Hub. The aim of this project is to develop a low-cost skin-interfacing sensor that can be seamlessly attached to the human body for long-term and remote monitoring of mechanical and physiological signs of overdose without affecting the routine daily activities of the user - RESCU2 – Clinical Validation of Virtual Safe Drug Consumption Technology
PneumoWave (formerly Altair Medical Ltd) in partnership with the University of Dundee and King’s College London, alongside third sector partners including Humankind, Thames Reach, Hillcrest Futures, the Health Innovation Network and the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) for south London. PneumoWave ALERT is a remote monitoring platform designed to make opioid usage safer. A discrete, chest-worn biosensor paired to a mobile device allows detection of the onset of life-threatening respiratory depression during an overdose event which then alerts nearby carriers of naloxone, and emergency medical services. This project will recruit 200 residents of homeless accommodation to participate in a study with aims of reducing drug deaths and gaining usability feedback from patients and care teams.