Sunday, November 18, 2012

New Ideas to Treat Epilepsy

The Epilepsy Therapy Project a nonprofit organization works to accelerate new therapies for people living with epilepsy and seizures. They have just announced that their second annual “Shark Tank” Competition is inviting entries representing the most innovative new ideas in epilepsy treatment and care.

Ideas are needed for a drug or device that stops seizure, a system that helps patients manage their treatment or epilepsy, a device that prevents personal injury from a seizure, and any other concept that could improve the lives of people with epilepsy.

The winner of the competition will receive national recognition and a $100,000 cash award to support the development and commercialization of a new product, technology, or therapeutic concept. The deadline for submission of a Letter of Intent is January 15, 2013.

The top finalists will present their product concepts or therapeutic candidates at the Antiepileptic Drug and Device Trials (AEDD) XII Conference in Miami on May 15-17, 2013.  The expert panel of judges and audience members representing industry, patient advocacy, investment, research, and medical communities will then choose the winner of the “Shark Tank” Competition.

Last year, the winner of the 2012 “Shark Tank” Competition was Charles Anderson of HiPass Design for his Smartphone Movement Detector, a life-saving seizure alarm system that detects and records night-time seizures. Anderson created his movement detector when he found existing solutions were inadequate for alerting him to his son’s seizures. Anderson’s grant funding is supporting the development and commercialization of this seizure alarm which is now in trials.