Media Advisory: Monday, May 21 - 2018 Diabetes Innovation Challenge Pitch Off

ROYAL SONESTA BOSTON
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

$250,000 IN CASH AND IN-KIND PRIZES TO BE AWARDED

BOSTON, May 16, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ten finalists, all academic researchers and early stage companies, will compete on May 21 in a public “Pitch Off” of innovative solutions to advance diabetes care in the 2018 Diabetes Innovation Challenge.

A total of $250,000 in cash and additional in-kind support for concept/product development will be awarded among the first, second, and third prize winners. A People’s Choice award will also be presented to the winner of on-line public voting that began in March.

Media are invited to attend the Pitch Off from 3:00 PM until 5:00 PM at the Royal Sonesta Boston, 40 Edwin H Land Blvd. in Cambridge. Winners will be announced at an evening reception. Presenters, judges, representatives of T1D Exchange and the sponsors will be available for interviews.

Members of the general public can register for the event here.

The 2018 Diabetes Innovation Challenge is presented by T1D Exchange with the generous support of lead sponsors, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and JDRF. Major sponsors include the American Diabetes Association, Eli Lilly and Company and Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

The ten finalists in four categories were chosen by a select panel of judges from a list of 30 semi-finalists that were reviewed earlier this year. In all, 60 entries were received from 17 countries. A complete list of the finalists with a short description of each can be found below.

The first Diabetes Innovation Challenge was held in 2016 in response to the urgent need to improve the health and quality of life of the growing number of people living with diabetes. Studies show that at least 1.25 million Americans are living with type 1 diabetes, including more than 200,000 young people under the age of 20. Alarmingly, there was a 21 percent increase in the prevalence of type one diabetes among young people from 2001-2009, with 40,000 new cases diagnosed each year. At the current rate, the number of people with type one diabetes is expected to grow to more than 5 million people in the U.S. by 2050.

About T1D Exchange
T1D Exchange is a nonprofit research organization dedicated to accelerating therapies and improving care for people affected by type 1 diabetes. T1D Exchange actively supports discovery and innovation—particularly at its earliest stages. At the same time, the organization asserts that evidence gathered in the “real world” can help bridge the gap between discovery in research settings and impact in people’s lives.

The T1D Exchange model uses cutting-edge research tools, methods and programs to gather biological samples from people living with type 1 diabetes, as well as evidence from their real-world experiences. The goal is to link patient samples, data and insight to all stages of research and development, advancing new therapies and better care for everyone affected by type 1 diabetes.

Contacts
For more information about the Pitch Off or to arrange coverage, media may contact John Gillespie at (314) 708-9090 Jgillespie@T1DExchange.org or Trisha Gura, Director, Marketing and Communications, at 781-856-4700 Tgura@T1DExchange.org.

2018 Diabetes Innovation Challenge Finalists

Automated Insulin Devices (Artificial Pancreas) and related components such as novel glucose sensing, insulin delivery systems and cellular therapy delivery technologies

• AP Advance: An autonomous and discreet diabetes management system mimicking a healthy pancreas
• CAM MED LLC: An ultra-thin, flexible, bandage-like patch pump that delivers multiple drugs at minimal cost
• Micromedics, Inc.: A portable bio-artificial pancreas using microfabrication technology to mimic the pancreas

Diagnostics such as novel low-cost tests for research and screening; early diagnosis and prevention; autoantibodies, C- peptide; or other markers such as beta cell death and risk of diabetic complications

• Bonbouton: Early detection of signals that can lead to foot ulcers and amputations in patients with type 1 diabetes
• VOTIS Subdermal Imaging Technologies, Ltd.:  Pathology of the diabetic foot           

Therapeutics including smart insulins, glucagons, immune-modulating therapies, beta cell regeneration and treatments for diabetic complications

• Protomer Technologies Inc.: Weekly injectable glucagon that senses low blood sugar and automatically activates in the body
• Ridgeline Therapeutics: Oral medication to treat type 2 diabetes by selectively shrinking fat deposits
• University of Southern California: Device to maintain oxygen levels in the eye and prevent blindness             

Technology Design/Disease Management solutions for new and disruptive approaches to the use of information and communication technologies to support diabetes management

• Capillary Biomedical, Inc.: A soft, multi-port, kink-proof cannula and comfortable, reliable infusion
• Integrated Medical Sensors: The world's smallest wireless user-insertable 30-day glucose sensor