Eamonn Costello, patientMpower

PatientMpower among the winners of global medtech competition

Life
Eamonn Costello, patientMpower

29 January 2018

Digital healthcare solutions provider patientMpower has been named one of three overall winners of this year’s IPF Catalyst Challenge in Chicago. The Digital Hub-based company took home a cash prize of $333,000.

The Catalyst Challenge invited innovators from around the world to develop real, executable solutions to help patients living with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF).

IPF is an irreversible, unpredictable, and incurable interstitial lung disease. Without any known cause, it starts with scarring – or stiffening – of the lung tissue that prohibits the lungs from properly moving oxygen into the bloodstream, resulting in laboured inhalation that is often likened to the sensation of breathing through a coffee stirrer.

PatientMpower’s solution is based around the development of a mobile platform that enables IPF patients to track their disease using integrated monitors allowing them to better manage their treatment through new insights and connections with peers and caregivers.

“Winning the IPF Catalyst Challenge is a pivotal moment for patientMpower and our mission to empower patients, those PF warriors, to live better with IPF,” said patientMpower CEO Eamonn Costello.

“This funding will also be the catalyst for us to fully realise the potential of our digital biobank – data donated by all the PF warriors which is an amazing resource for IPF research. Through collaborations, we will continue to uncover new insights to map IPF human health.”

Ken Bahk PhD, managing director of Catalyst Challenge organiser Three Lakes Partners, said: “We created the IPF Catalyst Challenge on behalf of the countless patients around the world living with this largely ignored, heartbreaking disease. By collaborating with brilliant minds and innovative thinkers across the globe, we knew we could attack IPF from all sides and truly make progress. We couldn’t be more thankful for the inspiring ideas we saw over the course of this competition, and are honored to help bring our winners’ solutions to life. We’re excited for the promise that lies ahead.”

The other two winning technology companies included Advanced Interactive Response Systems (AIRS), a US company dedicated to the development of oxygen safety systems for use at home, in nursing homes, hospitals, and remotely, and UK-based Owlstone Medical, a company that develops a breathalyser for the early detection of cancer, inflammatory and infectious disease.

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