News
£1.7 million for the world’s first vaccine to prevent lung cancer
Researchers at the University of Oxford, the Francis Crick Institute and University College London have been granted £1.7 million of funding from Cancer Research UK and the CRIS Cancer Foundation to develop a lung cancer vaccine. The team are seeking to create ‘LungVax’, the world’s first vaccine to prevent lung cancer in people with a high risk of the disease. The LungVax vaccine will use technology similar to the highly successful Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. In the same way traditional vaccines use part of
a virus to train our bodies to fight disease, cancer vaccines use harmless proteins from the surface of cancer cells known as neoantigens. Neoantigens appear on the surface of the cell because of cancer-causing mutations within the cell’s DNA. When they are introduced into the body they act as a ‘red flag’, which trains the immune system to recognise them on abnormal lung cells. This lung cancer vaccine will help activate the immune system to kill these cells and stop lung cancer. “Cancer is a disease of our own bodies and it’s
hard for the immune system to distinguish between what’s normal and what’s cancer,” said Professor Tim Elliott, research lead for the LungVax project. “Getting the immune system to recognise and
attack cancer is one of the biggest challenges in cancer research today. If we can replicate the kind
Sponsored by
MoD spin-out to develop AI-driven sepsis test
UK start-up, Presymptom Health, has raised £1.5m in follow-on seed and grant funding that will help accelerate time to market of its AI-driven sepsis and infection tests – with the company aiming to roll-out its technology to the NHS from mid-2025. Presymptom’s infection test was recently
earmarked by the UK Government as a ‘breakthrough’ medical device under its £10m Innovative Devices Access Programme. The funding round includes investment from
of success seen in trials during the pandemic, we could save the lives of tens of thousands of people every year in the UK alone.” The scientists developing this lung cancer
vaccine will first use lab tests to see if it successfully triggers an immune response. If the results are positive, the vaccine will move straight into a clinical trial. Researchers think the vaccine could cover around 90% of all lung cancers.
UKI2S, an investment fund that provides seed funding to science & technology start-ups and SMEs; Ploughshare, the company that finds new and inspiring uses for government inventions; and MedtechToMarket. Innovate UK provided additional funds through an Investor Partnership Grant. The funding will help accelerate product development, support clinical trial activity and allow the company to secure UKCA accreditation by mid-2025. The company’s tests can be run on NHS PCR platforms, which were widely deployed during the COVID pandemic. By detecting true infection and sepsis earlier, it’s possible to save lives and reduce the incorrect use of antibiotics.
NHS launches drive to recruit armed forces veterans
The NHS is stepping up a national campaign to recruit former members of the Armed Forces who want to join the health service and offer their valuable skills to caring for patients. Running until March 2025, the new NHS Long Term Workforce Plan drive will encourage serving and retired armed forces personnel and their families to consider a career in one of the 14 allied health professions on offer in the health service. Universities across England will host a series of open days across the country, who will use innovative technology to give attendees a virtual, real-time insight into some of the different careers on offer. The first event will showcase careers in occupational therapy and will be hosted by Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and broadcast across five different university campuses. Attendees will be able to watch an occupational therapist treat patients in real time from the point of view of the clinician who is wearing a digital headset. A second clinician will describe what their colleague is doing through a separate audio feed.
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www.clinicalservicesjournal.com I May 2024
allied health professionals in place by 2036/37. Allied health professions make up the third
largest workforce in the NHS, behind doctors and nurses, and range from dietitians, radiographers and paramedics to podiatrists, orthotists, operating department practitioners and others. Navina Evans, Chief Workforce Officer at NHS
Each year at least 12,000 military personnel
leave their roles in the armed forces for a variety of reasons, with many of them looking to switch career after completing their service. Their transferable skills, including leadership, resilience and compassion, leave them with much to offer the NHS, and many already meet the entry requirements to undertake a suitable training programme. The collaboration between NHS England, Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and participating universities, will support the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan ambition to have 71,000 more
England, said: “This campaign is a fantastic example of the NHS finding new and innovative ways to showcase the brilliant careers on offer in the NHS – with armed force recruits able to experience different roles in real time before deciding if it is a career they would like to pursue. “Growing the number of allied health
professionals in the NHS is a key part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan – and our ambition is to increase the number of these professionals by around 70,000. To succeed in this goal and build a workforce which is fit for the future, we need to recruit staff from a wide range of backgrounds and former armed service personnel offer a fantastic depth of skills that are suited to these professions.”
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