RedKnight is delighted to announce it has supported Proxximos Ltd with its successful application to Innovate UK’s Biomedical Catalyst (BMC) competition, providing the innovative start-up with £239,000 in non-dilutive grant funding.Proxximos is developing an innovative solution to prevent Healthcare Acquired Infections (HCAIs) from spreading around hospitals. The solution is based on the concept of digital contact tracing. The aim is to find people infected with a pathogen before they become infectious and spread it to a new host. Without a new host, a pathogen cannot prosper. Proxximos’ solution exploits wearable technology and is fast, accurate and capable of tackling any communicable pathogen found in a hospital.The objective of the BMC project is to investigate the solution in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT). The project will enable Proxximos to develop and certify the solution, with the end goal of marketing it to healthcare customers in the UK and internationally.The benefits of such a solution for the NHS could be enormous. 20% of NHS beds are occupied by patients who are overstaying due to HCAIs, and the annual direct treatment costs for these people is £2.8 billion. HCAIs cause 22,000 patient deaths per year (not including Covid-19). If the project is successful, the resulting product could increase NHS capacity by 5-10% whilst saving more than £1 billion in direct treatment costs.Proxximos CEO, Mr Peter Whawell (MSc, MBA, OBE), said of the success “We are delighted with this success. The Innovate UK grant enables us to pursue a project otherwise out-of-reach, and is an important step for us as we pursue our vision of a world largely free from communicable disease. I am especially grateful to RedKnight for their excellent support which helped us to communicate our case”