Novartis Group’s generics and biosimilars division, Sandoz, has launched its second Healthcare Access Challenge (HACk) in an effort to seek out broader digital solutions to local healthcare access challenges.

The global Sandoz HACk competition is inviting entrepreneurs and innovators to submit digital technology concepts that have the potential to complement – or positively disrupt – established approaches to driving access to healthcare.

Building on the inaugural Sandoz HACk, launched in 2016, the company aims to work with the shortlisted winners to create scalable solutions of ideas that use digital technology to help address a local healthcare access challenge.

“By collaborating, we hope to create ambitious, yet practical, digital solutions that, with scale, could have a significant impact on people’s lives,” says Sandoz CEO and divisional head Richard Francis.

“Universal access to healthcare is still arguably the largest unmet medical need and, while great strides continue to be made globally, access challenges vary hugely across geographies and communities,” he says, pointing out that a major step towards improving healthcare access globally is to identify and understand the specific needs of local communities.

“There are still two-billion people in this world not getting the medicines they need. This is why we are launching Sandoz HACk, as we aim to inspire and embrace the brave and innovative thinking of entrepreneurs and visionaries to improve access to healthcare around the world.”

Digital innovation promises cost-effective and practical solutions with the power to transform access.

In April, Sandoz published a new White Paper examining the key role played by digital solutions to specific local healthcare problems.

The White Paper, titled ‘Sandoz HACk: Improving access to healthcare through locally targeted digital innovation’, outlines the key role of digital innovation at local level as part of a comprehensive approach to increasing global access to healthcare.

“The very nature of digital solutions, with their emphasis on networking and cross-border communications, means that not only are patients empowered to learn about and manage their own health, but that effective solutions are also more easily scaled from one country to another,” Francis notes.

The paper summarises the lessons learned to date from the three winning projects in 2017, particularly the need to provide more direct support earlier in the process and to build a collaboration pathway that helps innovators rapidly take their ideas from early concepts to minimal viable products to being ready for launch.

It also outlines how these will help guide the agenda for the current HACk.

This year’s theme is ‘Leveraging digital technologies to solve healthcare access challenges’, which aims to encourage ideas that can drive patient access or help healthcare providers reach more people.

Three shortlisted entrants will receive support from Sandoz experts to develop their ideas and transform their potential into impactful solutions.

They will also travel to the “forward-focused gathering of creative minds” event, South by Southwest, in Austin, Texas, in March, to explore, network and discover the latest innovative trends.

Following an in-person selection, one winner will be chosen and awarded seed funding and support from Sandoz to help bring his or her idea to life.

Sandoz HACk, which was initially a pilot project, opened for entries for its second run on October 4 and will close on November 30, with the winners to be announced in January.

Last year, Sandoz HACk focused on m-health, with the 2017 winning ideas proposing novel ways of using mobile technologies to connect patients with caregivers and essential medicines and addressing access issues specific to their country but with the potential to apply solutions elsewhere.

The three winners were chosen from six finalists, selected from about 150 idea submissions from 30 countries.

Among the Sandoz HACk 2017 winning projects was GoPharma, a smartphone-based telepharmacy solution that bridges the skills gap by linking medical counter assistants in rural facilities or clinics with trained urban pharmacists who can supervise operations in real time at different locations.

“The GoPharma concept is now active and live at 16 dispensing points across Ghana. Functionality is being piloted through WhatsApp while the app development is scoped out,” the company says.

Another winner was Blood Drive, a social platform to encourage blood donations for thalassemia patients, and help donors build a blood donation history and easily view a donation schedule.

“Since winning the challenge, Mohamed Shuraih has been working on a minimum viable product and fleshing out core functionality. He is in discussions with the Maldives Thalassemia Center [with a view to] partnering on the Blood Drive solution.”

Lastly, another star of the competition was Sali, an interactive mobile app that teaches, motivates and guides nonprofessionals to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation effectively, using auditory and visual prompts.

A prototype was developed following market research, with the technology now to be introduced to partner schools and communities, mainly to test the app’s acceptability and usability. The developers are also creating a social-vmedia marketing plan to start a Sali (Lifesaver) community online.