As we mark Lyme Illness Consciousness Month this Might, HHS is proud to have a good time the 10 teams participating in Phase 2 of the LymeX Diagnostics Prize. The final word objective of HHS and the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Basis’s LymeX Innovation Accelerator (LymeX) competitors is to nurture the event of diagnostics towards Meals and Drug Administration assessment.
The present two-tier antibody testing system—initially developed in 1994 for illness surveillance, not as a stand-alone diagnostic take a look at—depends on the presence of antibodies and may solely be used precisely 4 to 6 weeks after the affected person turns into contaminated.
Accelerating innovation by money prizes and skilled assets
By way of September 2023, ten groups are collaborating within the Section 2 digital accelerator, which provides entry to digital studying, mentorship, biorepository material experience, and networking alternatives. With prior work in areas starting from sepsis to genetic sequencing and glycomics, the accelerator cohort is making use of a broad vary of experience to their proposed next-generation diagnostics.
By utilizing a prize competitors mannequin, the LymeX Diagnostics Prize provides money prizes alongside a spread of non-monetary assets. The competitors is designed to stimulate the marketplace for Lyme illness diagnostics by serving to entrants overcome diagnostic growth obstacles with prize funds and technical help—whereas additionally fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Enhancing testing accessibility is vital to enhancing affected person outcomes, and groups are already starting to contemplate the problem with the assistance of scientific research and gadget design assets. Over the summer season, the cohort will take part in roundtable discussions with sufferers and clinicians as they refine their ideas.
The LymeX Diagnostics Prize is setting a brand new bar for innovation in illness diagnostics. If assessments are efficiently validated, the cohort’s work might assist enhance Lyme illness remedy total—in addition to assessments for different infectious ailments.
Wanting forward: Professional judging panel to convene in October 2023
Following the accelerator, the cohort will submit idea papers that element resolution refinement, scientific and affected person enter, and a roadmap from lab to market.
The competitors judging panel—composed of specialists throughout biology, scientific and know-how translation, affected person expertise and advocacy, diagnostic science and know-how, exponential innovation, and ethics—will consider eligible submissions in keeping with official Phase 2 evaluation criteria. Based mostly on the judges’ evaluations, they’ll suggest as much as 5 Section 2 winners of the LymeX Diagnostics Prize.
The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Basis has made a beneficiant $10 million pledge to the LymeX Diagnostics Prize. HHS and the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Basis awarded $1 million in Section 1 of the LymeX Diagnostics Prize, with $9 million in extra LymeX prizes projected to be obtainable in future phases, together with Section 2. A collection of accelerator assets shall be made obtainable to the general public on the competition website to assist broader innovation in Lyme illness diagnostics and remedy.
To obtain all Section 2 updates, subscribe to the LymeX Diagnostics Prize newsletter and follow @Lyme_X on Twitter.
