In partnership with WIRED Brand Lab and other collaborators, such as Shift.ms and Techstars, Novartis has launched the Novartis Innovation Prize: Assistive Tech for Multiple Sclerosis.
The aim of the prize is to identify and embrace technology that helps to improve mobility and activities of daily living for people with MS.
Innovators from a wide variety of disciplines are invited to showcase their pioneering accessible-tech ideas to help reimagine care for people living with MS, with first place expected to win a prize worth US$250,000 ($363.000).
“Every day, patients with MS face difficult and unique mobility challenges that can make regular activities, such as walking, speaking and living out comfortable lives, extremely difficult,” Novartis Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Drug Development John Tsai said.
Novartis, he said, hopes to “reimagine care for people living with MS” through the Innovation Prize.
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Australia and New Zealand General Manager Richard Tew added: “We are excited to see how the Novartis Innovation Prize will spark new ideas and conversations across Australia to help address the challenges faced by the MS community and others living with mobility limiting conditions.”
Applications for the Novartis Innovation Prize are now open worldwide and will be accepted until January 10, 2020.
The winners will be announced at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas on March 13, 2020.
