Imperial College Health Partners and MedCity partnership awarded NICE tender to support real-world evaluation of health technologies

Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP) – in partnership with the Discover-NOW health data research hub, and MedCity Diagnostics Growth Hub – has been appointed as an external assessment group (EAG) supporting the real-world evaluation of health technologies by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The partnership will work together as a designated EAG to accelerate the development and adoption of technologies into healthcare through robust assessment and evaluation within a real-world evidence ecosystem.

This award reflects the strategic ambition of NICE to use real-world data to resolve gaps in knowledge and drive forward access to cutting-edge technologies and innovations for patients.

ICHP is a partnership organisation supporting complex change across the health and care sector, and one of 15 national Academic Health Science Networks. ICHP is the host for Discover-NOW – a health data research hub providing a gateway to one of the largest de-identified data sets in Europe (2.5 million people). This capability to link data back to real patients derives real-world insight vital to driving real-world change and innovation. The MedCity Diagnostics Growth Hub is a consortium of world-leading UK diagnostics evaluation and translational science centres, providing a one-stop-shop for diagnostic development and commercialisation. As such, this partnership is ideally positioned as an EAG to deliver real-world evidence generation for technologies and innovations for adoption into healthcare.

Dr Axel Heitmueller, Managing Director of ICHP and Discover-NOW, said:

“For ICHP, in partnership with Discover-NOW and MedCity Diagnostics Growth Hub, to be awarded this NICE tender as an external assessment group is a fantastic reflection of our capability and offer to generate real-world evidence and insight that’s crucial to driving the adoption of innovative health technologies for the benefit of patients.

“Since the Discover-NOW health data research hub was established three years ago, we have connected clinicians, scientists and researchers from NHS, academia, and industry partners, to a real-world evidence ecosystem, supporting them to develop new treatments, and to test and evaluate innovations. We look forward to working with NICE as an EAG to support their vision of using real-world data to drive patient access to new innovations.”

Neelam Patel, CEO of MedCity, said:

“Innovators developing the new wave of life-saving technologies are often hampered by access to the appropriate real-world evidence needed to progress their technologies to the clinic. The work that NICE are doing to enable this is incredibly important, and we’re delighted that the expertise of the ICHP, Discover-NOW and MedCity Diagnostics Growth Hub partnership will now support NICE evidence evaluation programmes through the EAG appointment.”

More information about Discover-NOW and its unique service offer is available here

More information about MedCity Diagnostics Growth Hub is available here