Prize4Life
Encyclopedia
Prize4Life is a non-profit organization
dedicated to the discovery of treatments and a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
(ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's
disease and motor neurone disease
. The organization uses the inducement prize contest
model. Prize4Life was founded in 2005 by Avi Kremer, an Israeli student at Harvard Business School
, who was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 29.
On February 3rd, 2011, Prize4Life announced that their first prize, the $1M ALS Biomarker Prize, was awarded to Dr. Seward Rutkove for his development of a tool to track the progression of the disease. An effective biomarker will make clinical trials of ALS drugs cheaper, quicker, and more efficient. By overcoming a fundamental obstacle in drug development for ALS, the discovery of a biomarker clears the way for pharmaceutical and biotech companies to develop treatments for ALS.
In May of 2006, Prize4Life, along with the, organized a conference with a number of top academic ALS researchers and high-level executives from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Conference participants were asked to consider the major obstacles currently preventing industry from focusing on translating the exciting ideas coming out of academia into the creation of new drugs for ALS. Conference attendees told us that the greatest obstacle by far was the lack of three vital “missing pieces”:
Kremer and his friends decided to focus their attention on these missing pieces by following the example set by high-profile ventures such as the X-Prize. They worked with scientists to develop highly specific criteria for a prize that would reward the discovery of a clinically relevant ALS biomarker. The prize was launched with the help of InnoCentive
, a company that has created a Web-based community of “seekers” who pose difficult R&D questions and “solvers,” who come from all over the world and a wide variety of backgrounds to provide solutions to these problems.
As Prize4Life has grown and matured, the organization continues to administer prizes while also working to provide other informational and infrastructural resources that the ALS research community needs.
In May 2007, with a $75,000 donation from the Kraft
family, Prize4Life awarded five Thought Prizes of $15,000 each to five teams who proposed the best theoretical solutions for discovering a biomarker for ALS. After awarding these Thought Prizes, the organization focused on the second track of the ALS Biomarker Prize: a $1 million award for the actual discovery of an ALS biomarker.
Prize4Life announced the awarding of the Biomarker Prize to Dr. Seward Rutkove on February 3rd, 2011 for his development of a tool to track the progression of the disease. This biomarker has the potential to reduce the cost of Phase II clinical trials by more than 50% and remove one of the primary obstacles to industry investment in potential ALS therapies.
Prize4Life pioneered the application of the incentive prize model to the biomedical field. The first million-dollar prize was launched via InnoCentive in 2006. Five years later, the process has culminated in the identification of a biomarker, but the ripple effect of the challenge can be seen far beyond the work of Dr. Rutkove. The prize catalyzed radically new ideas from new thinkers—in 2007, as part of the first tier of the challenge, Prize4Life awarded five ‘thought’ prizes to encourage promising concepts. A plant biologist and a dermatologist who applied a
method used in the cosmetic industry were among those attracted to propose novel approaches to a major challenge in the ALS field. Over 1000 solvers from more than 20 countries signed up on InnoCentive to compete in the second round of the challenge, which aimed to translate these new
ideas into practical application.
Rutkove’s biomarker, using a method called electrical impedance myography (EIM), sensitively measures the flow of a small electrical current through muscle tissue. The current travels differently through healthy and diseased tissue, and by comparing the size and speed of electrical current, EIM can accurately measure the progression of the disease.
The promise of this biomarker has already garnered interest from the biotechnology community. Neuralstem, a biotherapeutics company, is already using EIM as a biomarker in an ALS clinical trial. Two additional biotechnology companies, Biogen Idec and Genzyme, are actively considering incorporating the biomarker into trials as well.
s in people. In addition, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies use animal models to help them determine what potential therapeutics to invest time and resources in. Furthermore, no compound tested in ALS mouse models under rigorous experimental conditions has demonstrated the ability to reliably extend lifespan in these animals by even 10%.
data from past ALS clinical trials and other sources and compile it in one database. Analyses of the large volumes of data contained in such a database may reveal valuable insights that have not yet been discovered. This project provide researchers with the access necessary to leverage precious patient resources most effectively.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
dedicated to the discovery of treatments and a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a form of motor neuron disease caused by the degeneration of upper and lower neurons, located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord and the cortical neurons that provide their efferent input...
(ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
disease and motor neurone disease
Motor neurone disease
The motor neurone diseases are a group of neurological disorders that selectively affect motor neurones, the cells that control voluntary muscle activity including speaking, walking, breathing, swallowing and general movement of the body. They are generally progressive in nature, and can cause...
. The organization uses the inducement prize contest
Inducement prize contest
An inducement prize contest is a competition that awards a cash prize for the accomplishment of a feat, usually of engineering. IPCs are typically designed to extend the limits of human ability...
model. Prize4Life was founded in 2005 by Avi Kremer, an Israeli student at Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
, who was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 29.
Prizes
Prize4Life has launched two major prizes of US$1 million each. The first, an award for the discovery of a biomarker that can reduce the time and cost of ALS clinical trials, was launched in November 2006 and remained open for five years. The second, the Avi Kremer ALS Treatment Prize launched in October 2008, is for the discovery of a therapy that can reliably extend life in the mouse model of ALS by 25%. Prize competitions are open to all. Prize4Life has awarded $175,000 in smaller prizes for theoretical solutions and progress in the early stages of the Biomarker Prize Challenge.On February 3rd, 2011, Prize4Life announced that their first prize, the $1M ALS Biomarker Prize, was awarded to Dr. Seward Rutkove for his development of a tool to track the progression of the disease. An effective biomarker will make clinical trials of ALS drugs cheaper, quicker, and more efficient. By overcoming a fundamental obstacle in drug development for ALS, the discovery of a biomarker clears the way for pharmaceutical and biotech companies to develop treatments for ALS.
History
In the fall of 2004, 29-year-old Avichai “Avi” Kremer, a first-semester MBA student at Harvard Business School, was diagnosed with ALS. After learning there was no cure for the disease, Kremer and his friends set out to gain a better understanding of the ALS research landscape and to determine what they could do to help move the field forward more quickly.In May of 2006, Prize4Life, along with the, organized a conference with a number of top academic ALS researchers and high-level executives from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Conference participants were asked to consider the major obstacles currently preventing industry from focusing on translating the exciting ideas coming out of academia into the creation of new drugs for ALS. Conference attendees told us that the greatest obstacle by far was the lack of three vital “missing pieces”:
- A biomarker (an inexpensive and simple way to measure disease progression in humans)
- A predictive mouse model
- An understanding of the underlying cause(s) and mechanism of the disease
Kremer and his friends decided to focus their attention on these missing pieces by following the example set by high-profile ventures such as the X-Prize. They worked with scientists to develop highly specific criteria for a prize that would reward the discovery of a clinically relevant ALS biomarker. The prize was launched with the help of InnoCentive
InnoCentive
InnoCentive is an "open innovation" company that takes research and development problems in a broad range of domains such as engineering, computer science, math, chemistry, life sciences, physical sciences and business and frames them as "challenge problems" for anyone to solve them...
, a company that has created a Web-based community of “seekers” who pose difficult R&D questions and “solvers,” who come from all over the world and a wide variety of backgrounds to provide solutions to these problems.
As Prize4Life has grown and matured, the organization continues to administer prizes while also working to provide other informational and infrastructural resources that the ALS research community needs.
ALS Biomarker Prize
The Biomarker Prize was Prize4Life’s first prize challenge, launched in November 2006. Currently, there is no uniformly reliable way of tracking disease progression. As such, clinical trials for ALS are long and expensive, often prohibitively so. Prize4Life sought to reduce the time and cost needed to conduct these clinical trials, thereby allowing for speedier testing of potential therapeutics and an accelerated push toward treatments and a cure for ALS. The first researcher to meet all of the specified criteria of the prize would win US$1 million.In May 2007, with a $75,000 donation from the Kraft
Robert Kraft
Robert K. Kraft is an American business magnate. He is the Chairman and was the Chief Executive Officer of The Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, real estate development and a private equity portfolio...
family, Prize4Life awarded five Thought Prizes of $15,000 each to five teams who proposed the best theoretical solutions for discovering a biomarker for ALS. After awarding these Thought Prizes, the organization focused on the second track of the ALS Biomarker Prize: a $1 million award for the actual discovery of an ALS biomarker.
Prize4Life announced the awarding of the Biomarker Prize to Dr. Seward Rutkove on February 3rd, 2011 for his development of a tool to track the progression of the disease. This biomarker has the potential to reduce the cost of Phase II clinical trials by more than 50% and remove one of the primary obstacles to industry investment in potential ALS therapies.
Prize4Life pioneered the application of the incentive prize model to the biomedical field. The first million-dollar prize was launched via InnoCentive in 2006. Five years later, the process has culminated in the identification of a biomarker, but the ripple effect of the challenge can be seen far beyond the work of Dr. Rutkove. The prize catalyzed radically new ideas from new thinkers—in 2007, as part of the first tier of the challenge, Prize4Life awarded five ‘thought’ prizes to encourage promising concepts. A plant biologist and a dermatologist who applied a
method used in the cosmetic industry were among those attracted to propose novel approaches to a major challenge in the ALS field. Over 1000 solvers from more than 20 countries signed up on InnoCentive to compete in the second round of the challenge, which aimed to translate these new
ideas into practical application.
Rutkove’s biomarker, using a method called electrical impedance myography (EIM), sensitively measures the flow of a small electrical current through muscle tissue. The current travels differently through healthy and diseased tissue, and by comparing the size and speed of electrical current, EIM can accurately measure the progression of the disease.
The promise of this biomarker has already garnered interest from the biotechnology community. Neuralstem, a biotherapeutics company, is already using EIM as a biomarker in an ALS clinical trial. Two additional biotechnology companies, Biogen Idec and Genzyme, are actively considering incorporating the biomarker into trials as well.
Avi Kremer ALS Treatment Prize
In October 2008, Prize4Life launched a $1M award for a therapy that extends the life of ALS mice by 25%. Efficacy in animal models is a critical scientific and regulatory hurdle for the development of new drugs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that all new drugs being developed (for any use in humans) be thoroughly tested in animal models before they can be approved for clinical trialClinical trial
Clinical trials are a set of procedures in medical research and drug development that are conducted to allow safety and efficacy data to be collected for health interventions...
s in people. In addition, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies use animal models to help them determine what potential therapeutics to invest time and resources in. Furthermore, no compound tested in ALS mouse models under rigorous experimental conditions has demonstrated the ability to reliably extend lifespan in these animals by even 10%.
Collaboration with Alzforum
Prize4Life has worked closely with the Alzheimer Research Forum (Alzforum), a web-based resource for Alzheimer’s disease researchers, to build a similar tool for ALS researchers. Alzforum is an online tool for communication and collaboration that is now used by nearly 50% of Alzheimer’s disease researchers worldwide. This research portal provides a number of comprehensive research resources, up-to-date reports on the latest and most important research findings, and opportunities for researchers to discuss and collaborate. Prize4Life and Alzforum have worked together to hire a Science Writer who covers the latest news in ALS research. Since the start of this collaboration, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of ALS-related stories featured on the Alzforum website. In April 2009, Prize4Life began work on www.ResearchALS.org, a web-based portal that will allow easy access to all ALS-related resources currently available on the Alzforum.Biostatistics project
In an effort to provide researchers with the information they need to compete, Prize4Life began a project to collect relevant biostatisticalBiostatistics
Biostatistics is the application of statistics to a wide range of topics in biology...
data from past ALS clinical trials and other sources and compile it in one database. Analyses of the large volumes of data contained in such a database may reveal valuable insights that have not yet been discovered. This project provide researchers with the access necessary to leverage precious patient resources most effectively.