As we mark Lyme Illness Consciousness Month this Could, HHS is proud to have fun the 10 groups taking part in Part 2 of the LymeX Diagnostics Prize. The final word aim 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 evaluation.
The present two-tier antibody testing system—initially developed in 1994 for illness surveillance, not as a stand-alone diagnostic check—depends on the presence of antibodies and might solely be used precisely 4 to 6 weeks after the affected person turns into contaminated.
Accelerating innovation via money prizes and professional sources
By way of September 2023, ten groups are taking part within the Part 2 digital accelerator, which gives 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.
Through the use of a prize competitors mannequin, the LymeX Diagnostics Prize gives money prizes alongside a spread of non-monetary sources. The competitors is designed to stimulate the marketplace for Lyme illness diagnostics by serving to entrants overcome diagnostic growth limitations with prize funds and technical help—whereas additionally fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Enhancing testing accessibility is vital to bettering affected person outcomes, and groups are already starting to think about the problem with the assistance of medical research and machine design sources. 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 therapy general—in addition to assessments for different infectious illnesses.
Wanting forward: Skilled judging panel to convene in October 2023
Following the accelerator, the cohort will submit idea papers that element answer refinement, medical and affected person enter, and a roadmap from lab to market.
The competitors judging panel—composed of specialists throughout biology, medical and know-how translation, affected person expertise and advocacy, diagnostic science and know-how, exponential innovation, and ethics—will consider eligible submissions in accordance with official Part 2 analysis standards. Based mostly on the judges’ evaluations, they may advocate as much as 5 Part 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 Part 1 of the LymeX Diagnostics Prize, with $9 million in further LymeX prizes projected to be obtainable in future phases, together with Part 2. A number of accelerator sources can be made obtainable to the general public on the competitors web site to assist broader innovation in Lyme illness diagnostics and therapy.
To obtain all Part 2 updates, subscribe to the LymeX Diagnostics Prize publication and comply with @Lyme_X on Twitter.
