LEO Innovation Lab is sponsoring the Skin Prediction innovation challenge with a prize money of $100,000. When living with a skin condition such as psoriasis, your skin tends to flare-up. Not knowing when this will happen can be incredibly frustrating! We are looking for a technology solution that could solve this problem.
We are looking for a solution that will enable people with psoriasis to predict when the next skin flare-up will occur. Such a solution may also tell where the flare-up will occur on the body, however, this is not a requirement. Furthermore, the optimal solution will be tested among people with psoriasis. Solutions which assumes that users have access to a smartphone is accepted.
- Concept Idea deadline is February 13, 2017
- Prototype deadline is June 1, 2017, 23:59 p.m. UTC +2 (CEST)
Read the challenge Guidelines for the specific submission criteria and rules. Please advise that the challenge guidelines are subject to change. Registered competitors will receive a notification when significant changes are made, however, we highly encourage you to regularly visit the challenge page.
When living with a chronic skin condition such as psoriasis, people often face the issue of not being able to predict the next flare-up. When will it happen? Where on the body will it occur? How bad will it be?
We know that certain factors may trigger outbreaks such as stress, seasonality, certain foods, alcohol and hormonal changes. Nevertheless, psoriasis sufferers still have a hard time predicting the next flare-up, not being able to respond to it before it's too late.
Maintaining a normal life can often be difficult, as the next flare-up might happen before meeting someone, attending an event, or doing a presentation at work. All situations where you want to look your best. Constantly living with this uncertainty and unpredictability can be frustrating as people feel less in charge of their lives.
Development of a solution that can predict skin flare-ups can help millions of people with a “call-for-action”. A call-for-action would empower people living with psoriasis to be in charge of their skin. Knowing when the next flare-up most likely will take place, would allow for more pro-active treatment, effectively reducing the amount of medicine needed or enable some treatments to even last longer. A solution would also provide the ability to identify the origin of the flare-up and allow people to introduce the necessary behavioral change to prevent future flare-ups. With a solution, millions of people living with psoriasis would much better cope with their condition and maintain a normal daily life.
A prize of a total of $100,000 USD will be awarded to the prototype solution that best meets the judging criteria. Apart from the prize money, the winner may become part of the LEO Innovation Lab project portfolio with the potential of:
In the case of a tie, the winner will be selected at the discretion of the judging panel.
Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease with red, thick and scaly skin and affects at least 100 million people worldwide, with the highest concentration (around 2-3%) in the western population. Along with the physical skin symptoms and lowered quality of life the majority of psoriasis patients also suffer from itch.
What triggers the disease is partly genetic, however, general stress and post-traumatic stress are important predictors of skin flare-ups. Environmental factors such as humidity, certain nutrition, infections and psychological imbalance are also known to be capable of causing flare ups. To read more about flare-ups see the available resources for this challenge.
In general, people with psoriasis more frequently experience other diseases such as arthritis, inflammatory bowel diseases, overweight and obesity, heart issues and depression.
Psoriasis and Life
The psychological effects of psoriasis on person's everyday life represent an enormous emotional burden. People experience frequent social stigma and up to 60% of psoriasis sufferers have symptoms of depression as consequence of a lowered quality of life.
“It’s easy with kids, they ask. Adults don’t, they just look and judge. That’s sometimes a hindrance and it effects me. I usually wear long sleeves, also in the summer. I cover up.”- Testimony from a person living with psoriasis
A recent study done by the Happiness Research Institute and Psohappy concluded that half of people with psoriasis say they have low self-esteem and 41% say they rarely feel confident. The study also found that people living with psoriasis have approximately 20% lower level of happiness compared to the rest of the population.
For more: http://www.psohappy.org/report2016
Have a look at our other challenge Relieve Itch
This challenge is created and sponsored by LEO Innovation Lab.
LEO Innovation Lab is an independent unit, established by LEO Pharma as part of a long-term strategic decision to focus on patient needs.
At LEO Innovation Lab we don’t develop medical treatments – instead, we look at all aspects of everyday life that can affect a person living with a skin condition, with the goal of improving their quality of life.
To learn more about LEO Innovation Lab visit: http://leoinnovationlab.com
About LEO Pharma
Pharmaceutical company LEO Pharma specializes in dermatology helping people globally, that suffer from skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema, actinic keratosis or acne. LEO Pharma is owned entirely by the LEO Foundation and has no shareholders. Its profits are reinvested to develop new solutions to support the overall mission: To help people achieve healthy skin.
We are looking for a solution that will enable people with psoriasis to predict when the next skin flare-up will occur with min. 70 % accuracy. Such a solution may also tell where the flare-up will occur on the body, however, this is not a requirement. Solutions which assume that users have access to a smartphone is accepted.
Describe your concept/idea in a slide deck. The following things should be included:
Template is available in the resources section.
All submissions must include the following:
Prediction accuracy of a flare-up of min 70% in a pilot evaluation of users.
How will prototype submissions be judged?
|
Evaluation Criteria |
Weigth of total score |
|---|---|
| Prediction accuracy Prediction accuracy of a flare-up of min 70% in a pilot evaluation of users/patients. |
45 |
|
Timing of the prediction |
20 |
| Accessibility of the solution How easy can users access the solution? |
20 |
| Affordability of solution for users How affordable will the product/solution be for users? |
15 |
| Total | 100 |
Participants must comply with the challenge rules. Participants will be deemed to have received, understood and agreed to these challenge rules through their participation in the challenge. Full IP Agreement will be disclosed at challenge launch
Eligibility
The challenge is open to all individuals both private and company. Submissions must be made in English, and all challenge-related communication will be in English.
Submissions
If you are competing in this challenge, we advise that you submit your concept idea at the concept submission deadline. This is not a requirement, but it is recommended that you do so, to ensure the relevance of your final (prototype) solution.
Challenge Sponsor will judge all Submissions against the criteria outlined in the Challenge Guidelines and determine, in its sole discretion, which submission best addresses the Challenge Guidelines.
Submissions must not contain or include ideas, concepts, solutions or technology in respect of which a third party owns or controls the intellectual property. Submissions and descriptions thereof may not include trademarks or trade names of corporations or entities without the permission of their owners.
Intellectual Property
To participate in the challenge participants must agree to the terms and conditions in the challenge specific agreement made available when entering the challenge. Full Information concerning intellectual property can be found in the challenge specific agreement.
All intellectual property rights, if any, and all inventions, patents, patent applications, designs, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, software, source code, object code, processes, formulae, ideas, methods, know-how, techniques, devices, creative works, works of authorship, publications, and/or other intellectual property developed by innovator as part of the submission will remain with innovator.
If Challenge Sponsor notifies innovator that submission is eligible for a prize, the innovator will be considered qualified as a Finalist. Finalist must agree to grant to the Challenge Sponsor a royalty- free, exclusive, worldwide license in respect of all such intellectual property rights, if any, for the purposes of commercial exploitation of the idea or concept demonstrated by the submission. Challenge Sponsor may be open to negotiating the exclusivity of a submission, dependent on the specific submission in question.
Disclaimers
The Challenge Rules are subject to change. Registered participants will receive notification when changes are made. However, competitors are encouraged to visit the challenge page often to review updates.
A prize of a total of $100,000 USD will be awarded to the prototype solution that best meets the judging criteria. Apart from the prize money, the winner may become part of the LEO Innovation Lab project portfolio with the potential of:
In the case of a tie, the winner will be selected at the discretion of the judging panel.
Not the right challenge for you? Have a look at our other challenge Relieve Itch
Note: Challenge Guidelines are subject to change. Registered competitors will receive a notification when changes are made, however, we highly encourage you to regularly visit the challenge site to see new updates.
