Bayer and NUS Enterprise Announce Winners of Grants4Apps® Singapore Open Innovation Challenge
- 3 winning teams from Singapore and Thailand awarded for their innovative
health-tech solutions to overcome medication adherence barriers in elderly
people with chronic diseases. - Innovative concepts address a significant health challenge as patient
adherence to long-term therapies is only 50%1. - Bayer and NUS Enterprise to support the winners in advancing their
project ideas with an award of S$10,000 each and access to mentorships,
incubator space, and global and regional networks.
Singapore, May 3, 2017 – Bayer and NUS Enterprise,
the entrepreneurial arm of the National University
of Singapore (NUS), today announced three winners from 80 applications of the
inaugural round of Grants4Apps® Singapore, a web-based crowdsourcing initiative
that calls for innovative health-tech solutions to improve medication adherence
in elderly people with chronic diseases across Asia Pacific. The three teams of
winners are from Singapore and Thailand.
the entrepreneurial arm of the National University
of Singapore (NUS), today announced three winners from 80 applications of the
inaugural round of Grants4Apps® Singapore, a web-based crowdsourcing initiative
that calls for innovative health-tech solutions to improve medication adherence
in elderly people with chronic diseases across Asia Pacific. The three teams of
winners are from Singapore and Thailand.
Grants4Apps® Singapore
is part of Bayer’s global Grants4Apps® program that supports innovators for their
health-tech ideas which contribute to improvements in health outcomes or
pharmaceutical processes. The first round of the challenge was jointly launched
by Bayer and NUS Enterprise on 1st December 2016 at the Transforming Aging with Health Innovation Forum, officiated by Dr
Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Ministry of Health, Singapore. The
crowdsourcing initiative closed on 31st March 2017 with a total of 80 applications from
countries including Singapore,
is part of Bayer’s global Grants4Apps® program that supports innovators for their
health-tech ideas which contribute to improvements in health outcomes or
pharmaceutical processes. The first round of the challenge was jointly launched
by Bayer and NUS Enterprise on 1st December 2016 at the Transforming Aging with Health Innovation Forum, officiated by Dr
Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Ministry of Health, Singapore. The
crowdsourcing initiative closed on 31st March 2017 with a total of 80 applications from
countries including Singapore,
Thailand, India,
Australia, Taiwan, S. Korea, and the Philippines. While the call for ideas
focused mainly on the Asia Pacific region, Grants4Apps® Singapore also received
applications from countries outside the region such as the United States of
America (USA).
Australia, Taiwan, S. Korea, and the Philippines. While the call for ideas
focused mainly on the Asia Pacific region, Grants4Apps® Singapore also received
applications from countries outside the region such as the United States of
America (USA).
“Our Grants4Apps® program fosters digital and
technological innovations in healthcare globally. We are impressed by the
wealth of ideas and the high quality of our finalists from this regional chapter
of our program which focuses on finding solutions to improve medication
adherence in our rapidly aging population,” said Kemal Malik, Member of the
Board of Management, responsible for Innovation at Bayer, as he gave out the
awards to the three winning teams. “Some of these concepts have the potential
to benefit patients, doctors and consumers, revolutionlizing healthcare
delivery and improving treatment results. We are delighted to support the
winners in advancing their innovative ideas.”
technological innovations in healthcare globally. We are impressed by the
wealth of ideas and the high quality of our finalists from this regional chapter
of our program which focuses on finding solutions to improve medication
adherence in our rapidly aging population,” said Kemal Malik, Member of the
Board of Management, responsible for Innovation at Bayer, as he gave out the
awards to the three winning teams. “Some of these concepts have the potential
to benefit patients, doctors and consumers, revolutionlizing healthcare
delivery and improving treatment results. We are delighted to support the
winners in advancing their innovative ideas.”
After an
intensive evaluation of the applications, six finalist teams were selected for
coaching and mentorship followed by a final round of pitching and an awards
ceremony, held today at Innovfest Unbound, an anchor event of Singapore’s Smart
Nation Innovations week 2017 featuring Asia’ most innovative developments.
intensive evaluation of the applications, six finalist teams were selected for
coaching and mentorship followed by a final round of pitching and an awards
ceremony, held today at Innovfest Unbound, an anchor event of Singapore’s Smart
Nation Innovations week 2017 featuring Asia’ most innovative developments.
The winners of Grants4Apps® Singapore are:
- EyeDEA, Singapore: A two-in-one card and
wearable that improves elderly glaucoma patients’
compliance to eye drops. A personalized wallet-size medication card improves
patients’ understanding and recall of medication regimes, while a customized
wearable with an alarm reminds and tracks glaucoma patients’ usage of eye
drops. The device targets elderly glaucoma patients in Singapore who typically
do not own smartphones and have poor vision, which limits their ability to
effectively use mobile applications with typically small font sizes. - Glycoleap by Holmusk,
Singapore: An
application (app) that monitors diabetes patients’ food habits, glucose readings, activity levels, weight and
medicine adherence on a daily basis. As it monitors glucose level of patients
daily, dieticians are able to ascertain if a patient has forgotten to take
his/her medication. Through the use of both technology and human intervention,
the application helps to overcome the barriers of medication adherence. - PillPocket, Thailand: An integrated solution that
provides personal healthcare assistance from
pharmacists for patients with high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and diabetes.
PillPocket comprises a chatbot linked
to pharmacist services such as follow-up care, supporting medication refill and
home delivery and even free patient case management. PillPocket also has a medication reminder function which triggers
alerts via chat.
Other finalists of
Grants4Apps® Singapore are:
Grants4Apps® Singapore are:
- Pill-E, Singapore: A smart pill box integrated
with an intuitive application that helps
caregivers and patients to simplify and adhere to complex medication with
ease. The intelligent application logs dosing pattern and adherence which can
be shared with the doctor for assessment. Additional in-built mechanisms also
prevent medication misuse. While differentiating from a normal pill box with
its “smart” functions, Pill-e also
offers a more affordable and convenient option to a pill dispenser. - Onward
Health, India: A software which helps postoperative patients
follow their discharge instructions
and doctor’s advice, including physiotherapy, medication adherence and other
vital parameters needed to be tracked. It helps patients stay connected to
their postoperative care network through a simple communication platform
enabling hospitals and doctors to keep track of their patients’ health after
discharge. A dashboard also provides a view of the patient’s compliance as well
as real-time health status. - Intemed by SMJ Engineering,
USA: A
device integrated with a smartphone to provide digital medication management by healthcare professionals to
combat medication non-adherence. A smart cartridge pill container with an
embedded memory chip can be programmed by a pharmacist with an encrypted
medication ID, digital prescription, re-ordering data and all other pertinent
medication information. The catridge is then inserted into the device by the
patient and the app automatically identifies the medications, programmes
schedules, re-orders, notifies the patient about medication intake and
dispenses the medications.
A panel of distinguished judges from Bayer, NUS Enterprise and the
industry evaluated the applications based on originality and practicality; the teams should be
able to develop their proposed innovative concepts into minimum viable products in about six
months to improve medication adherence in elderly people with chronic diseases. There were
no restrictions on platforms, operating systems and/or technologies.
industry evaluated the applications based on originality and practicality; the teams should be
able to develop their proposed innovative concepts into minimum viable products in about six
months to improve medication adherence in elderly people with chronic diseases. There were
no restrictions on platforms, operating systems and/or technologies.
“We are honoured to partner
with Bayer on the the Singapore edition of Grants4Apps® focusing on medication adherence. We were impressed with the quality of submissions
received, and we believe the ideas and innovations presented today will help create
lasting social impact amongst
with Bayer on the the Singapore edition of Grants4Apps® focusing on medication adherence. We were impressed with the quality of submissions
received, and we believe the ideas and innovations presented today will help create
lasting social impact amongst
the senior community in Singapore, the region and beyond,” said Lily
Chan, CEO of NUS Entreprise, who was also part of the judging
panel for Grants4Apps®
Singapore.
Chan, CEO of NUS Entreprise, who was also part of the judging
panel for Grants4Apps®
Singapore.
Each winnng team will receive
an award of S$10,000 and access to mentorships and a global and regional network from Bayer, NUS and other
industry partners to refine and scale their project. The teams will also be
eligible for incubator support from NUS Enterprise as well as access to the Modern Aging Singapore business accelerator program,
organized by ACCESS Health international
and NUS Enterprise. They may also be admitted to the global Grants4Apps® program and the Grants4Apps® Accelerator and stand a
chance to receive additional financial support, mentorships by Bayer managers and an
international network of external entrepreneurs as well as co-working space at the global
headquarters of Bayer Pharmaceuticals division in Berlin, Germany.
an award of S$10,000 and access to mentorships and a global and regional network from Bayer, NUS and other
industry partners to refine and scale their project. The teams will also be
eligible for incubator support from NUS Enterprise as well as access to the Modern Aging Singapore business accelerator program,
organized by ACCESS Health international
and NUS Enterprise. They may also be admitted to the global Grants4Apps® program and the Grants4Apps® Accelerator and stand a
chance to receive additional financial support, mentorships by Bayer managers and an
international network of external entrepreneurs as well as co-working space at the global
headquarters of Bayer Pharmaceuticals division in Berlin, Germany.
1 Kathleen Holloway, Liset van Dijk 2011, The World Medicines Situation 2011: Rational Use Of Medicines, World Health Organisation, accessed 15 November 2016, http://www.who.int/medicines/areas/policy/world_medicines_situation/WMS_ch14_wRational.pdf (last accessed: November 29, 2016)
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