Public Funding for Wilbo's Blends Limited

Over 1 million individuals in the EU and North America (\>70,000 people in the UK) require long-term tube feeding, typically using formula through a tube inserted directly into the stomach. Commercial formula is expensive, costing the NHS more than £200million/year. Formula feeding can cause various side-effects including nausea, vomiting, reflux, and constipation which impact quality of life and NHS budgets. Side-effects can result in hospitalisation and a reliance on long-term medicines to manage them. There's been huge growth in the use of home-blended food, 'blended diet', as an alternative to formula. Blended diet has fewer side effects, improving quality of life and reducing reliance on other medicines. Crucially, home-blended food is far cheaper for society to sustain, costing £10-£20 per-person per-week, versus up to £245 per-person per-week for formula, an 80% reduction in costs for the NHS. Wilbo's Blends' vision is to help everyone with a feeding tube have equitable access to real food via prescription to reduce diet-related inequalities. We project \>£30m/year savings could be realised within 5-years by reducing formula, the medicines required alongside formula and the cost of unnecessary hospitalisations \[UoM, Health Economics\]. Our company is user-led 'inspired by Wilbo'. William, born with complex care needs has, like thousands of others, successfully transitioned onto blended diet, reducing symptoms. This drives our commitment to support the tube feeding population and ensure equitable access to the blended diet. We will create a set of organic, 100% real food products for people (age3+) that are tube fed which will be the first to meet Food for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP) regulations, be approved by the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances (ACBS) and be available on prescription. ​​​Wilbo's will overcome technical complexities associated with formulating the products, manufacturing at scale and testing with users to meet: * Nutritional profile within FSMP tolerances * Calorie density \>1.0kcal/ml * A consistency that is smooth enough to pass through a feeding tube (IDDSI-level-3). * Sterile packaging that is shelf-stable for up to 12months and can connect to a syringe. This project brings together a world-class team of academic, clinical and commercialisation professionals from across Manchester's innovation ecosystem, working closely with FSMP manufacturing specialists, dietitians and regulatory consultants. Our products are designed to support tube fed individuals, but they can also be accessed by people with an oral diet who have an unsafe swallow (called dysphagia), including stroke and cancer patients. We will work to drive access for all.