NEW YORK – The National Institutes of Health's Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Technology program announced on Monday that it is offering $3 million in cash prizes to support the development of noninvasive technologies to modernize the diagnosis of endometriosis.
Called the RADx Tech ACT ENDO Challenge, the competition is co-led by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) at NIH.
Endometriosis is a gynecological disease involving growth of uterine tissues in other parts of the body, potentially leading to pain, inflammation, and infertility. Currently, the disease is thought to impact approximately 10 percent of reproductive-age people who are biologically female, according to the World Health Organization.
Diagnosis of endometriosis typically requires invasive laparoscopic surgery.
"Endometriosis is one of the most common gynecological diseases, but it can take up to 10 years to get a diagnosis," Diana Bianchi, director of the NICHD, said in a statement. "The goal of this challenge is to make a meaningful impact for the millions — roughly 10 percent globally — of reproductive-age women and girls who have endometriosis."
The ACT ENDO Challenge is seeking proposals to shorten the time to diagnosis, eliminate the invasiveness of current techniques, or improve accessibility, safety, convenience, and costs of diagnosis, according to a statement.
Specifically, the challenge is seeking noninvasive technologies, such as imaging, in vitro or smartphone-enabled diagnostics, digital health platforms, wearable devices, integrated sensing approaches, and clinical lab tests.
Submissions will be evaluated using the RADx Tech "innovation funnel" approach, which compresses tech development timelines by simultaneously addressing scientific, technical, regulatory, clinical, and commercialization requirements across milestone-based stages.
The two-year challenge will have three phases.
Submissions for Phase I are due Oct. 11, 2024. At the end of the phase, up to eight semifinalists will be selected. Up to four Phase II winners will receive a cash prize of $100,000 each, and Phase III winners will have the opportunity to compete for an interim milestone prize of $250,000, each with final prizes ranging from $100,000 to $600,000 awarded at the end of the competition, in approximately March 2026.
The challenge is open to any US-based innovator or organization, and initial submissions require a working prototype of a technology with computational, in vitro, and/or in vivo data demonstrating the proof of concept.