Horizon Therapeutics Launches Prize with MIT to Advance Solutions for the Rare Disease Community

Rare Daily Staff

Horizon Therapeutics, in partnership with the marketplace for social impact innovation MIT Solve, said it has created a first-of-its-kind annual global innovation challenge called The Horizon Prize focused on speeding diagnosis and care for people impacted by rare disease.

The Horizon Prize will pose a unique challenge question each year to encourage innovators and entrepreneurs to try to solve a problem associated with the rare disease community. The Horizon Prize will award up to $150,000 in prize funding each year for up to two solution teams each year from a pool of more than 138,000 visionaries, academics and inventors in more than 137 countries.

“Horizon is committed to creating and supporting out-of-the-box, innovative initiatives that have the potential to improve the quality of life for patients and their families,” said Tim Walbert, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Horizon.

This year’s question is “How can technology help people with rare diseases get the right care faster and more accurately?” Horizon said it is seeking solutions that leverage big data and analytics to improve the detection and diagnosis of rare diseases, promote community and connection among rare disease patients and their advocates, and unlock collaboration by patients, scientists, and health care providers to improve patient outcomes.

There are more than 7,000 rare diseases affecting over 400 million people worldwide. People who have a rare disease often find themselves underserved by health care systems. An estimated four in 10 patients experience initial misdiagnoses. Some estimates indicate that patients may wait nearly five years and see an average of seven different health care providers before their condition is accurately diagnosed.

Photo: Tim Walbert, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Horizon