Call for Proposals

For the 2024 cohort of the program, we will be looking to receive proposals from applicants in relation to one of the following challenges:

Open Date:

January 8

Deadline for Submission:

February 15 at 10 am (IDT)/ 1 am (ET) / 8 AM (IST) / 2 PM (SST) / 3 PM (KST) / 6 PM (AEST).

The Challenges:

Topic #1 – Digital Biomarkers In Neurology

Topic #1 – Digital Biomarkers In Neurology

The Challenge/Need: Digital Biomarkers have a huge potential to advance healthcare and represent significant business opportunities for Roche Information Solutions (RIS) and Roche overall – with unique chances to combine strengths across pharma research and development, diagnostics, and digital.
What we mean by digital biomarkers
Objective, quantifiable physiological, and behavioral data are collected and measured by means of digital devices such as portables, wearables, implantables, or ingestibles. The data collected are typically used to explain, influence, and/or predict health-related outcomes. Digital biomarkers also represent an opportunity to capture clinically meaningful, objective data.
Disease area
- Neurology domain
- Focusing on Neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, ALS
- Neuroinflammation such as Multiple sclerosis (MS), Mild cognitive impairment, Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Traumatic brain injury as well as Neuromuscular like SMA
Medical setting
- Clinical Trial and/or Clinical Use
- Mode of tests: In-clinic and remote testing/ monitoring/home testing; can be in different stages of the patient care journey
User
- Primary care (GP), secondary care (neurologists, specialists), and patient self-testing, patient family/ guardians (caregivers)
Patient journey:
- Pre-screening, screening/case finder, diagnostic (preliminary diagnosis, secondary diagnosis), response monitoring
- Prognosis: treatment monitoring, disease progression
What we are looking for:
- Digital solutions leveraging sensors, wearables, monitors, AI-based systems, digital tools e.g. reading or decision on whether MRI is needed, questionnaire tools (Apps, APIs)
- Digital biomarkers: scanning/tracking of speech, eye, gait; cognitive tests, or a combination

Topic #2 – Rapid Diagnostics of Infectious Diseases

The Challenge/Need:
Diagnosing infectious diseases and determining an appropriate treatment quickly is a critical need, both in settings where healthcare is difficult to access and in places where people have easy access to care. Waiting on a diagnosis is an unpleasant experience for patients, represents more work for treating physicians, and often delays in starting treatment are associated with worse outcomes.
Consider, for example, tuberculosis where loss to follow-up (patients not returning for treatment after being informed they are infected) is a major problem, or the early detection of HIV infection, where a sensitive test and immediate treatment could prevent irreparable damage to the immune system.

What we are looking for:
Sensitive and robust point-of-care testing devices and infrastructure, capable of delivering confident results within a single clinical encounter (30–60 min). Successful solutions will enable the detection of protein and/or nucleic acid biomarkers at the point of need whether that be at a walk-in clinic in a major city or in a rural area with only limited access to healthcare.

Topic #3 – Home Testing Ecosystem

The Challenge/Need:
Many treatments for chronic or oncological diseases are shifting away from outpatient service to home care. This can make treatment more convenient for patients and indeed make treatment available to underserved or rural populations. However, home treatments put patients at some distance from the testing and monitoring infrastructure that typically accompanies therapy for safety reasons. Depending on the administration procedure, home treatment may also distance patients from compliance monitoring and informed discussions with care providers about progress and treatment adjustments.
To mitigate these risks, and spurred on by the experience of the pandemic, home testing is becoming more prevalent and more sophisticated. But opportunities exist to improve home testing in two ways:
First, for simplicity of analysis, home testing results tend to be binary: Positive or negative for a virus, or as in the NSH example above, indicative of an impending adverse event. A better future for patients and treating physicians would involve the development of tests and the necessary infrastructure to monitor critical biomarkers so that clinicians could adjust treatments to the individual progress of each patient and inform conversations about therapy compliance.
Second, at-home therapy patients have needs poorly met by current tests. Distance from healthcare providers increases anxiety about adverse events and treatment effectiveness, and healthcare involves more than just treatment compliance. An opportunity exists to develop tests and related services that empower patients to be active participants in their own care. Developing services that share results with patients with appropriate commentary and context may assuage anxieties and motivate compliance, positively impacting the patient journey.

What we are looking for:
New tests and the related infrastructure to make the most of at-home treatments for chronic disease. Successful solutions may be aimed at providing healthcare providers with more detailed information for adjusting therapies and empowering patients to have more informed discussions with their care providers.

Topic #4 – Diagnostics Sustainability

The Challenge/Need:
Many medical assays employ hazardous or toxic chemicals to accomplish the reactions used to diagnose disease. Similarly, the need to prevent sample contamination during collection & transport and cross-contamination during processing generates undesirable waste streams, including large amounts of disposables. In addition, the cold chain collection and transportation that is involved in specimen collection and molecular diagnostics (as well as in biopharma) has a significant environmental impact.
Governments are increasingly regulating the use and disposal of hazardous chemicals (see for example ECHA REACH Regulations) and medical waste and Healthcare companies are committed to minimizing the use of hazardous substances in their products, but in many cases, no safe alternatives exist. Similarly, the reduction of the carbon footprint of cold chain logistics is receiving increasing attention.

What we are looking for:
Diverse solutions that minimize the generation and/or disposal of waste from medical testing or from the cold chain logistics associated with it. Successful solutions may focus on:

- alternative sample collection, transportation, packaging, or processing methods to reduce the use of disposables; or
- concentrating, purifying, reclaiming, or otherwise minimizing the volume of hazardous waste that must be transported and managed; or
- reducing/minimizing the need for cold chain logistics through changes to the medical assays.

Program Details:

Program Description:

StarFinder is an exclusive innovation program for entrepreneurs to advance their digital health and diagnostics ventures towards ‘Proof of Concept’ (POC) based on validated healthcare market needs. Established in 2020 by F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland (“Roche”) and aMoon Fund (“aMoon”) this unique early-stage program is aimed at identifying exceptional entrepreneurs who are addressing pressing global health challenges.

Selected entrepreneurs will receive assistance in the development of their “Proof of Concept” based on data from Israeli HMOs and/or hospitals and/or Roche. They will also benefit from intimate guidance, unparalleled access to leading global expertise from within Roche and aMoon, and additional support. StarFinder Lab will launch one cohort per year, each cohort will include selected startups addressing the published challenges.

Criteria:

Applicants must be either: (i) entrepreneurs, researchers, or practicing professionals in an academic institution or a healthcare organization provided, however, that they are based in Israel, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, or Boston, USA (together, the “Designated Locations”) or (ii) a registered and operating company based in any of the Designated Locations (i.e. the major operations of such company are conducted wholly or primarily in one of these Designated Locations, as the case may be, hereinafter: “Existing Company”).

In the case of (i) above, a designated company registered and operating in one of the Designated Locations will need to be incorporated ahead of commencing the program.

In the case of (ii) above, the Existing Company or the shareholders thereof may be required, to establish a new company in one of the Designated Locations to participate in the program, depending on specific conditions.

In any event, applicants selected for the program must have, upon program commencement, a designated team ready to execute the POC including a CEO or a business leader.

The proposed project will be evaluated based on a variety of parameters, including (but not limited to): quality and strength of the team; potential for market disruption; innovation excellence; technological feasibility to reach a POC within 9 months, relying on the use of data and AI; value to patients and healthcare (outcomes and costs).

Program Agreements:

Please note that participation in this program is subject to the execution of an agreement with Roche as well as approval of the terms and conditions for participation in the program (hereinafter jointly referred to as “Program Agreements”).

Application Process:

The application process has five phases:

First Phase – [February 8 2024 to February 15 2024]: submission of applications through the StarFinder website

Second Phase – [March 2024]: first round pitch for shortlisted companies

Third Phase – [April 9 2024]: second round pitch for finalists companies

Fourth Phase – [April 2024]: notifying of cohort 4 selected companies and execution of definitive documents

Fifth Phase – [Mai 2024]: program opening

Certain Terms:

Please read carefully all the terms and conditions of this call for proposals before applying. Submission of applications in response to this call for proposals is made under the sole responsibility of the applicants and at their own risk.

By applying, each applicant (hereinafter also referred to as “you”): (i) accepts this call for proposal (including but not limited to the terms and conditions, as described herein and as may amended from time to time), (ii) accepts the terms of use of the StarFinder’s website (located at: https://www.starfinderlab.com/, the “Website”) and the use of the website for submitting the application, (iii) acknowledges that participation in the program is conditioned upon the execution of the Program Agreements, which contain additional terms, and (iv) warrants that neither it nor any shareholder thereof have any conflict of interest or suspicion of conflict of interest, of any type and kind whatsoever, in connection with the application to and participation in the program. Each applicant further undertakes to bring to the attention of the program leader any information that may be relevant to determine as to whether an applicant has or is suspected of having a conflict of interest as stated above.

It is strongly advised to apply sufficiently in advance of the deadline for submission. For the avoidance of doubt, it is clarified that no applications will be accepted after the deadline for submission, except in extraordinary circumstances as determined at our sole discretion.

We reserve the right, at any time at our sole discretion: (i) to change or cancel this call for proposals or any of the terms thereof, and (ii) to change, suspend, or cancel the program or the challenges. Any changes or notices with respect to suspension or cancellation will be published on the Website. Applicants are advised to regularly check the Website. By applying to the program each applicant gives its consent to such changes, suspension, or cancellation in advance. Such changes, suspensions, or cancellations are without entitlement to compensation. you acknowledge and confirm that you are aware that we define the challenges at our sole discretion.

By applying to the program you confirm that you lawfully own all Intellectual Property Rights (“IPRs”) included in your application and that to the best of your knowledge at the time of the application, your participation does not infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate any third party’s IPRs. We reserve the right to disclose your identity to any third party claiming information, data, and/or material disclosed by you as part of your application constitutes a violation of their IPRs or their confidentiality/privacy rights.

You retain full and exclusive ownership of your information and owned IPRs.

All costs and expenses incurred by the applicant in preparing its application will be borne by the applicant. There will be no recourse for the recovery of these costs, regardless of the outcome of the evaluation.

Please note that applications and supporting documents are to be submitted in English.

Please refer to the Website’s privacy policy to learn how we will process personal data included in the application.

Applicants must inform us of any change to the application or the information thereof. We will decide how to handle such changes and inform you of our decision.

The terms and conditions of this call for proposals shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the state of Israel, without regard to its principles of conflict of laws. Any dispute arising under these terms and conditions shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in Tel Aviv, Israel.