The Victorian Connected Health Innovation and Commercialisation Centre (CHICC) has been officially opened by Victoria's industry and innovation minister, Ben Carroll.
The centre, delivered by digital health commercialisation organisation ANDHealth, has received $2.4 million from the Victorian government.
It aims to bring together innovators, industry leaders, healthcare professionals, and investors to collaborate, connect and access free services and support. It is expected to engage over 500 participants each year.
ANDHealth CEO Bronwyn Le Grice said, “We have seen a remarkable 84 per cent increase in the number of digital health companies in Victoria since June 2020, indicating the huge potential of the Victorian digital and connected health sector to drive new, high-value jobs and better health outcomes.”
“The opening of this hub is a major milestone in continuing to support the growth of Victoria's digital health ecosystem, providing vital resources and expertise to help these companies commercialise their world-leading technologies, products and services for the benefit of patients in Australia and around the world,” said Ms Le Grice.
Two leading Victorian-connected health companies, Macuject and Atmo Biosciences, joined the launch to discuss their products.
Dr Devinder Chauhan founded Macuject to meet the demand for consistent, high-quality eye injection care for more patients in his bulk-billing clinic in the Melbourne suburb of Boronia.
Macuject’s AI analyses macular OCT scans, detecting and measuring abnormalities that would lead to preventable blindness without treatment.
Atmo Biosciences is a digital health business developing an ingestible gas-sensing capsule. The capsule continuously measures clinically important gaseous biomarkers as it travels through the gut. It wirelessly transmits data to help medical professionals better diagnose functional gastrointestinal disorders.