EIT Health has announced its 2020 Wild Card is open for applications for teams and individuals, inviting health innovators to submit proposals in the areas of women’s health and digital therapeutics.
Now in its third year and with four start-ups already launched, the Wild Card programme seeks to support promising teams and turn their ideas into businesses. Wild Card will first create and then invest up to €2 million into two ventures.
Each year the Wild Card programme selects two challenges which represent a pressing health issue for European citizens. For 2020 the first challenge set to Europe’s health innovation community is Women’s Health. Innovators are urged to devise cost-effective, technology-driven solutions to provide specialised care for women.
Commenting on the women’s health challenge, Jorge Fernández García, EIT Health director of innovation said: “Addressing women’s healthcare is vital. A historical female underrepresentation in research has led to women’s health issues being overlooked or underserved. In Europe, it’s estimated that women spend almost 12 years of their life in ill health, they are more likely to develop adverse reactions to medication, and cardiovascular disease, traditionally considered as a threat to men, is the greatest mortality risk for women in Europe alongside cancer. Women’s health is rich territory for Europe’s health innovators, we look forward to supporting breakthroughs that can make a real impact here.”
The second challenge is digital therapeutics, which asks innovations to harness the power of digital solutions to prevent, manage and treat medical conditions or disease.
Commenting on the digital therapeutics challenge, Fernández García, said: “We’re looking for innovators who can create digital therapeutic solutions that enhance the delivery and quality of care. Although it’s a relatively new field, it’s an area that holds great promise to deliver breakthroughs in therapy areas where medicine has so far struggled, as well as tackling the challenge of shifting healthcare towards a more preventative rather than reactive approach. We’re looking for innovation that can show a distinct and measurable benefit for patients and healthcare systems.”
The most promising applicants will attend a hackathon to build or complement their team and write their business plan. Up to six teams will then be selected to progress to a 10‑week Business Model Validation phase.
Entries for the 2020 Wild Card close on 9 February 2020. Information on how to apply can be found at https://wildcard.eithealth.eu/.
