Protolabs has forged a partnership with the Cleveland Clinic Healthcare Innovations Alliance to create an awards program that will accelerate healthcare ideas.
The new project will be part of Protolabs’s Cool Idea Award program and will help Healthcare Innovations Alliance members turn their ideas into real-world products and devices. The company says that Cleveland Clinic and other alliance members should submit ideas to the Cool Idea Award: Healthcare Grant. Winners will be awarded manufacturing services from Protolabs to help support development and commercialization of products.
Protolabs has hosted the Cool Idea Award since 2011 and has so far awarded more than $1 million in manufacturing services.
“This dedicated funding for the Cleveland Clinic Healthcare Innovations Alliance is an exciting extension of our award program. The Alliance shares our commitment to fostering and accelerating innovation, making the partnership a natural fit,” Vicki Holt, president and CEO at Protolabs, said in a press release. “The medical industry makes up one of Protolabs’s largest segments of customers so we are well-versed in the intricacies of bringing medical products to market.”
Cleveland Clinic Innovations partners with a number of healthcare institutions and corporate partners through the Healthcare Innovations Alliance. The partnership will help to streamline and scale commercialization efforts. Some of the other members in the alliance include Parker Hannifin, MedStar Health, the Innovation Institute and SABIC.
“We are excited to welcome Protolabs to our Innovations Alliance program,” Pete O’Neill, executive director at Cleveland Clinic Innovations, said. “Healthcare is changing rapidly, and we must innovate at a similar pace to improve outcomes for patients everywhere. This relationship with Protolabs will help the inventor communities across our Alliance program more rapidly develop and test their solutions, and ultimately improve patient care.”
Winners of the Cool Idea Award: Healthcare Grant will be chosen twice a year by judges made up of Cleveland Clinic Innovations members and Protolabs representatives. Companies that aren’t associated with the Cleveland Clinic Healthcare Innovations Alliance are also encouraged to apply for the Cool Idea Award program. The program will be accepting applications four times throughout the year.
