Lyfebulb and Arena Pharmaceuticals Announce the Finalists for the 2021 Imagining Life Without Limits - An Inflammatory Bowel Disease Innovation Challenge

NEW YORK, June 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lyfebulb, a patient-empowerment platform and innovation accelerator that connects patients with one another and with industry to support user-driven innovation, and Arena Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on developing innovative therapeutics for immune-mediated conditions, announce the ten patient entrepreneurs selected as finalists for the 2021 Imagining Life Without Limits – An Inflammatory Bowel Disease Innovation Challenge.

• Ali Arjomand, PhD, Co-Founder at Allay Health
• Atray Dixit, PhD, Co-Founder & CEO at Coral Genomics
• Avinoam Dukler, PhD, Managing Partner & President at Glycominds
• Sam Holliday, CEO at Oshi Health
• Vik Kashyap, CEO at Toi Labs
• Iraklis Kourtis, PhD, Co-Founder at Chronicles Health, Inc.
• Asaf Kraus, CEO at Dieta Health
• Elena Mustatea, Co-Founder & CEO at Bold Health
• Sriram Muthukumar, PhD, Co-Founder & CEO at EnLiSense
• David Schoen, Co-Founder & CEO at GI Trak

Lyfebulb and Arena Pharmaceuticals' goal with this Innovation Challenge is to identify new and meaningful solutions that help patients, support partners, and all those affected by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to better manage their health, navigate daily life, and improve overall quality of life. The ten finalists selected to compete at the Challenge were chosen based on the potential of their innovative ventures to address these issues as well as their personal stories that sparked the launch of their companies.

"IBD comprises a set of chronic diseases that affect each individual throughout the day, from diet choices to exercise to therapeutic options. Consequentially, monitoring biometrics and more qualitative personal metrics may help in detecting flare-ups early or even prevent some of the comorbidities associated with the condition," stated Karin Hehenberger, MD, PhD, CEO of Lyfebulb. "These innovators have each taken their own path to providing new solutions that address the problems faced by IBD patients – with the goal of improving overall outcomes for patients. We look forward to bringing everyone together at the summit to work toward our shared goal of reducing the burden of living with IBD."

The finalists will pitch their companies' solutions to an expert panel of judges comprised of leaders from the healthcare, business, and patient advocacy fields on September 10, 2021. The jury will ultimately select one winner to be awarded a $25,000 monetary grant to further the growth of their company. The judging panel will include:

• Gerard Honig, PhD, Director of Research Innovation at the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation
• Folasade (Fola) May, MD, PhD, MPhil, Assistant Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine and Associate Director at the UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity
• Tina Aswani Omprakash, Lyfebulb Patient Ambassador, Health and Disability Advocate, Founder at Own Your Crohn's, and Co-Founder at IBDesis
• Jeiran Otmishi, Managing Director at Havas Health & You
• Brad Vale, PhD, DVM, Founder and General Partner at Treo Ventures

"Arena values bold ideas, relentless thinking, and continuous innovation," said Lopa Desai, SVP, Head of Global Commercial Operations & Access, Arena Pharmaceuticals. "We are pleased to see the finalists approach the Innovation Challenge with creativity and tenacity to advance ideas with the potential to improve the lives of patients living with IBD."

Beyond the pitch competition, the Challenge will provide opportunities for the finalists and participating guests to exchange ideas and insights about how to further advance patient innovation in the IBD community and impact change. To learn more about the Challenge, please visit: Lyfebulb.com.

About the Lyfebulb and Arena Partnership
Rooted in the collaborative spirit of the Lyfebulb and Arena partnership and a shared commitment to continuous innovation in patient care, the 2021 Innovation Challenge endeavours to strengthen and engage the IBD community, support the sharing of experiences and insights, identify promising and impactful solutions, and ultimately change lives. The Innovation Challenge is one component of a larger sponsorship between Lyfebulb and Arena to partner directly with IBD patients, support partners and community leaders to accomplish these goals.

About Lyfebulb
Lyfebulb is an innovation accelerator that bridges the gap between patient communities and the healthcare industry by working directly with patients and care partners to generate insights and build new solutions to reduce the burden of living with chronic disease. Lyfebulb operates across 11 disease states and counting. For more information, see Lyfebulb.com, TransplantLyfe.com, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Karin Hehenberger LinkedIn.

About Arena Pharmaceuticals
ARENA Pharmaceuticals is a team with a singular purpose – deliver important medicines to patients. In a rapidly changing treatment landscape, we work with a sense of urgency every day to identify the needs of the GI community and identify bold, sometimes disruptive, ideas to get medicines to patients. It's our determination to help improve the lives of millions of people suffering from GI disorders that inspires us all to relentlessly execute, until it's done. ARENA – Care More. Act Differently.

For more information:

Lyfebulb Contact:
Karin Hehenberger, MD, PhD
CEO & Founder, Lyfebulb
Phone: + 1 917-575-0210
Email: [email protected]

Arena Contact:
Patrick Malloy
Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Phone: +1 847-987-4878
Email: [email protected] 

SOURCE Lyfebulb

Related Links

lyfebulb.com