LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A start-up established by medical scientists that develops mobile apps for cancer patients has taken first place in the inaugural Digital Health Masterclass Challenge hosted by Janssen Healthcare Innovation and Johnson & Johnson Innovation in London.
The cutting-edge technology designed to personalise medical support for patients with cancer and improve the patient-doctor relationship highlights how digital health businesses across Europe are fast securing their position as key players in today’s health ecosystem. Pitching to a select panel of judges against 19 fellow digital health start-ups at the Masterclass Challenge, Px Healthcare, an Amsterdam-based company, secured first place and the top prize of €30,000 to help grow their offering.
Taking second place and a prize of €15,000 was DrEd, a new breed of online doctor that provides remote medical consultations for a range of conditions including sexual health testing and travel health. Currently operating out of the UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the online doctor platform offers video consultations and can also issue electronic prescriptions. Onco Drug Personalised Med (ODPM), a French-based start-up that develops digital solutions for personalised treatment for cancer patients, secured third place and a prize of €5,000. ODPM has developed web-based calculators to determine the risk of toxicity in patients to be treated with fluoropyrimidines and provides dose adaptation to improve quality of life during chemotherapy and reduce hospital costs.
Marco Mohwinckel, Partner, Janssen Healthcare Innovation, said: “We want to congratulate not just the winners of this award, but all 20 companies who were selected to take part in the Digital Health Masterclass Challenge. The judging panel was hugely impressed by the digital healthcare solutions demonstrated by all the participating companies. Reaching a final decision was not easy.”
Twenty leading digital health start-ups from nine European countries were selected to participate in the Masterclass from over 100 applicants. Each of the start-ups has developed an innovative product, service or proposition using the latest technologies such as mobile apps, cloud-based solutions and wireless sensing technologies to addresses a particular healthcare need.
Following selection, the companies participated in three sessions in Berlin, Barcelona and London, where they were exposed to a growth-focused curriculum, expert advice, and close interaction with customers, international influencers, executives from the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies and investors.
Marco Mohwinckel continued: “I’m proud to say we’ve left a mark and it’s been rewarding to see friendships form and ideas grow. I’m sure many of these digital health start-ups will now be accelerating their ideas as a result of the Masterclass.”
One of the main objectives of the Masterclass was to provide practical guidance and support to entrepreneurs at a critical stage in their growth, led by experts from across the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, including the dedicated entrepreneurial teams at Janssen Healthcare Innovation, Johnson & Johnson Innovation Centre London, and Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health.
Patrick Verheyen, Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, London, said: “Connecting innovators with the right resources has the potential to accelerate new health solutions and improve the lives of patients. By pooling the expertise across the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, we can be a catalyst to these rising stars of digital health and others in the innovation ecosystem.”
The Masterclass culminated with the Challenge Awards and networking event in London on 20 November, attracting over 100 members of the European digital health community, including entrepreneurs and investors. The event showcased the diversity of innovative digital health solutions on the horizon in Europe to help tackle some of the most pressing health challenges facing patients, their families and healthcare professionals.
About the Digital Health Masterclass participating companies
The digital health companies who participated in the Digital Health Masterclass included: BrainControl, DocCom, Doctor Kinetic, Dr Ed, Educamigos, Smartbrain, Exco InTouch, GroupNos Technologies, Mint Solutions, Onco Drug Personalized Medicine, Optimal Medicine, Px HealthCare, Shimmer, Silver Cloud, Skin Analytics, Soma Analytics, SwiftQueue, Take the Wind, Vivago, and Wireless Sensor Networks.
Full case study profiles of the participating companies are available separately.
About Janssen Healthcare Innovation
Janssen Healthcare Innovation is an entrepreneurial team within Janssen Research & Development, LLC (Janssen), one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. The Janssen Healthcare Innovation team is developing transformative integrated care businesses and building enabling technologies that harness the broad and differentiated capabilities of Johnson & Johnson to address the fundamental challenges of healthcare delivery. For more information about the team, go to www.janssenhealthcareinnovation.com.
About Johnson & Johnson Innovation
The London Innovation Centre is part of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, a division of Johnson & Johnson Finance Limited. Johnson & Johnson Innovation focuses on accelerating early innovation and enhancing opportunities for collaboration and investment across Johnson & Johnson’s global healthcare businesses. Johnson & Johnson Innovation provides scientists, entrepreneurs and emerging companies focused on early-stage opportunities a one-stop access to science and technology experts who can facilitate collaborations across the pharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostics and consumer companies of Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson Innovation includes local deal-making capabilities with the flexibility to adapt deal structures to match early-stage opportunities and establish novel collaborations that speed development of those innovations to solve unmet needs in patients. For more information, please visit: www.jnjinnovation.com.
About Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health
Caring for the world, one person at a time ... inspires and unites the people of Johnson & Johnson. We embrace research and science – bringing innovative ideas, products and services to advance the health and well-being of people. Our approximately 129,000 employees at more than 250 Johnson & Johnson operating companies work with partners in health care to touch the lives of over a billion people every day, throughout the world.
