Who said helping cure and treat rare diseases couldn’t be fun?!
Last week, Three Lake Partners – a venture firm that invests in healthcare and quality-of-life solutions for patients dealing with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) – crowned the winners of its IPF Catalyst Challenge.
Announced in April, Three Lake Partners – along with MATTER, IDEO, and Common Pool – invited innovators from around the world to design meaningful solutions to improve the quality of life of those living with IPF. The prize was one million dollars to help fund their proposals.
Hundreds of innovators registered and more than 60 formal solutions were proposed.
IPF is the hardening of lung tissue from an unknown cause, which prevents adequate oxygen from entering the bloodstream. The most common symptoms of IPF—shortness of breath and a dry, hacking cough that doesn’t go away—can develop slowly over time and make it harder to get an early diagnosis. To learn more about it, click here.
So who are the winners?! Read below – and click on the links to see a video of their proposals!
1. Advanced Interactive Response Systems (A.I.R.S.), LLC – dedicated to developing oxygen safety and monitoring products for IPF patients.
PROPOSED SOLUTION
Produce high-quality, portable oxygen safety and monitoring products that improve IPF patient health and caregiver performance.
Click here for video presentation and click here to learn more about the product and organization.
2. Owlstone Medical – using a breathalyzer for disease to help speed up IPF diagnosis
PROPOSED SOLUTION
A system used to capture breath samples and test for the presence of trace chemicals related to disease activity, for the early detection of IPF.
Click here for video presentation and click here to learn more about the product and organization.
3. patientMpower – empowering IPF patients to better manage their treatment
PROPOSED SOLUTION
A mobile platform that enables IPF patients to track their disease using integrated monitors, allowing them to better manage their treatment through new insights and connections with peers and caregivers.
Click here for video presentation and click here to learn more about the product and organization.
The above three proposals each received $333,333 to flesh out and develop further their proposal.
And bonus! The event announced the Audience Choice Award, where the audience was able to vote on their favorite, for a $50,000 award. The winner:
4. Level Ex. Inc. – increasing the IPF survival timeline by training doctors to successfully detect and treat the disease in patients
PROPOSED SOLUTION
Educate the global physician community about IPF by using lifelike, virtual patients in a mobile video game to improve clinical decision-making at the point of care.
Click here for video presentation and click here to learn more about the product and organization.
