Competition: Point of Care Diagnostics at the Front Line Phase 2
This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition seeks proposals for novel and innovative ‘Point of Care’ (PoC) diagnostic technologies.
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Details
This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition seeks proposals for novel and innovative ‘Point of Care’ (PoC) diagnostic technologies that provide information to enable clinicians to diagnose and treat individuals earlier and more effectively following exposure to biological or chemical agents. Following the successful completion of ‘Point of Care Diagnostics at the Front Line’ Phase 1 competition, Phase 2 will be looking for proposals to develop technology to Technology Readiness Level TRL 5.
What innovations are we looking for?
Disease caused by exposure to biological or chemical agents, represents a key issue for deployed personnel. Throughout the history of armed conflict, disease (regardless of source) has been a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among British forces that has led to reductions in the operational effectiveness of fighting elements. This issue remains current. The effective management and treatment of affected personnel remains a key challenge for the future where personnel may be deployed to parts of the world where endemic and emerging disease may be prevalent or subjected to the deliberate release of biological warfare (BW) or chemical warfare (CW) agents.
Technologies that enable a rapid diagnosis of individuals exposed to biological or chemical agents are currently limited. They are also time-consuming, resource intensive, provide a limited identification capability and frequently rely on reaching back to laboratory facilities to achieve a higher confidence output.
This challenge seeks to address this issue through the development of novel, enhanced PoC diagnostic devices which provide a result in a short time (c. 1 hour) and that can be used as close to the patient as possible (including in austere locations). Such devices will support clinicians to make informed, high confidence, diagnoses that optimise the management of affected individuals.
Total funding available
£1M (Exc. VAT) funding is available and we expect to fund two proposals of up to £500k (Exc. VAT) each in value. However, DASA reserves the right to fund one outstanding bid up to £1M (Exc. VAT) that demonstrates value for money, provides high quality supporting evidence of platform performance to date as well as a detailed project plan to deliver on the competition challenges. Contracts will be awarded for a duration of up to 14 months from 03 January 2023 and must complete by 28 February 2024 (although proposals of shorter duration will also be accepted).
Submission deadline
The competition closes at midday (BST) on 22nd September 2022.
Where do I submit my proposal?
Via the DASA Online Submission Service for which you will require an account.
Only proposals submitted through the DASA Online Submission Service will be accepted.
You must not submit any information classified above Official. If you wish to add supporting information which might be Official-Sensitive or Secret you should contact DASA in advance and we will discuss solutions with you.
Updates to this page
Last updated 31 August 2022 + show all updates
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Q&A from supplier 1-1s added - 9 August Q&A from supplier 1-1s added - 17 August
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Addition of 'Point of Care Diagnostics at the Front Line Phase 2: Frequently Asked Questions' document. Addition of further 1-2-1 dial in sessions on 17th August 2022.
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First published.