As we mark Lyme Illness Consciousness Month this Would possibly, HHS is proud to have a good time the 10 groups collaborating in Section 2 of the LymeX Diagnostics Prize. Without equal function of HHS and the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Basis’s LymeX Innovation Accelerator (LymeX) pageant is to nurture the improvement of diagnostics towards Meals and Drug Management assessment.

The present two-tier antibody trying out device—at the start evolved in 1994 for illness surveillance, now not as a stand-alone diagnostic check—is dependent upon the presence of antibodies and will best be used appropriately 4 to 6 weeks after the affected person turns into inflamed.

Accelerating innovation thru money prizes and knowledgeable sources

Thru September 2023, ten groups are collaborating within the Section 2 digital accelerator, which provides get right of entry to to digital finding out, mentorship, biorepository subject material experience, and networking alternatives. With prior paintings in spaces starting from sepsis to genetic sequencing and glycomics, the accelerator cohort is making use of a large vary of experience to their proposed next-generation diagnostics.

By way of the usage of a prize pageant type, the LymeX Diagnostics Prize provides money prizes along a variety of non-monetary sources. The contest is designed to stimulate the marketplace for Lyme illness diagnostics by means of serving to entrants conquer diagnostic building limitations with prize finances and technical help—whilst additionally fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Making improvements to trying out accessibility is necessary to bettering affected person results, and groups are already starting to imagine the problem with the assistance of scientific research and instrument design sources. Over the summer time, the cohort will take part in roundtable discussions with sufferers and clinicians as they refine their ideas.

The LymeX Diagnostics Prize is surroundings a brand new bar for innovation in illness diagnostics. If exams are effectively validated, the cohort’s paintings may just lend a hand give a boost to Lyme illness remedy total—in addition to exams for different infectious illnesses.

Having a look forward: Knowledgeable judging panel to convene in October 2023

Following the accelerator, the cohort will publish thought papers that element answer refinement, scientific and affected person enter, and a roadmap from lab to marketplace.

The contest judging panel—composed of mavens throughout biology, scientific and generation translation, affected person revel in and advocacy, diagnostic science and generation, exponential innovation, and ethics—will evaluation eligible submissions in line with respectable Section 2 analysis standards. In response to the judges’ critiques, they’ll counsel as much as 5 Section 2 winners of the LymeX Diagnostics Prize.

The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Basis has made a beneficiant $10 million pledge to the LymeX Diagnostics Prize. HHS and the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Basis awarded $1 million in Section 1 of the LymeX Diagnostics Prize, with $9 million in more LymeX prizes projected to be to be had in long term stages, together with Section 2. A collection of accelerator sources will likely be made to be had to the general public at the pageant web page to enhance broader innovation in Lyme illness diagnostics and remedy.

To obtain all Section 2 updates, subscribe to the LymeX Diagnostics Prize e-newsletter and practice @Lyme_X on Twitter.