Member Article

Manchester researchers win £450k for psychosis app

The University of Manchester has secured £450,000 from a £93m government initiative through the Medical Research Council, as part of a support package for the UK’s health industries.

Announced on Tuesday, the Government unveiled a cash pot that will support the health sector, including a £25.9m investment from Round 3 of the Biomedical Catalyst.

A total of 29 companies and five universities secured funding from the Catalyst, with Manchester set to develop a smartphone app that will deliver cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to people who have experienced a first episode of psychosis.

Researchers at the University will use the £450,000 pot to test and develop the app, which will allow patients to manage their care from home through a mobile device.

Patients will be able to identify and manage a personalised CBT strategy in their everyday lives, which will take away the need for unplanned hospital visits.

Mental health problems such as schizophrenia affect 24m people across the world, and the first time a patient experiences a psychotic episode is a crucial period for treatment delivery, as it can impact the long-term course of illness.

Manchester researchers’ app, the Active Assistance for Psychological Therapy (Actissist), will be delivered to 24 first episode patients, who will use the CBT app, while 12 patients will be provided with an app the simply monitors psychosis symptoms.

If successful, the University hopes the app will be further developed for psychosis and widened to other mental health conditions.

This research will build on ClinTouch, another MRC-funded mobile phone app developed at Manchester, which monitors symptoms in severe mental illness, while Actissist will extend the ClinTouch concept to provide treatment.

Dr Sandra Bucci, lead investigator of the study from the University of Manchester, said: “Schizophrenia is a serious mental health problem and the onset of psychosis can be a frightening experience for people.

“The Actissist app has the potential to transform care for people who experience psychosis by empowering them to take ownership over their own care in the community.

“Our ultimate goal is to make helpful treatments more widely accessible and to provide more choice about how people receive treatment, with a view to reducing the number of psychotic episodes people experience, keeping people well and out of hospital.

“Currently 70% of the costs of serious mental illness go on unplanned admissions to hospital, so reducing relapse will potentially lead to huge savings for the NHS.”

The University of Manchester funding comes from the Biomedical Catalyst, which is a joint programme between the Technology Strategy Board and Medical Research Council.

This is a £180 million fund that has already invested £96 million in 115 academic and businesses-led projects to help bridge the gap between the lab and the market place.

Announcing the fund on Tuesday as part of a larger health care support package, the Universities and Science Minister David Willetts said: “By investing in new technologies now we are maintaining the UK’s position as a world leader for innovation.

“The biomedical industry is a fast moving, high growth sector and the Catalyst has proven to be extremely successful in supporting new business ideas. This investment further drives forward our life sciences strategy.

“The new National Biologics Manufacturing Centre will significantly increase the UK’s manufacturing capability in biologics, keeping us ahead in the global race and strengthening the UK’s position as the location of choice for life sciences companies.”

Chief executive of the Technology Strategy Board, Iain Gray commented: “The Biomedical Catalyst programme has already proved a significant success, providing the support companies need to develop their innovations and solve healthcare challenges.

“The projects funded through this latest round of the programme demonstrate both the innovative nature of the UK’s health R&D sector and the success of the programme in identifying projects with strong commercial potential.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .