Angelini Pharma launches challenge to improve target identification in epilepsy

Global pharma firm partners with Wazoku to tap into the wisdom, expertise and knowledge of its 700,000-strong crowd

11 March 2024 – International pharmaceutical firm Angelini Pharma has launched a new crowdsourcing campaign that seeks to capture innovative new ways of target identification in epilepsy, particularly approaches that address the issue of drug-resistant phenotypes.

The challenge – New Digital Approaches to Target Discovery in Epilepsy – is the first of a new Angelini Pharma partnership with innovation scale-up Wazoku and focuses on identifying innovative digital approaches. There are two elements to the challenge - how to collect and integrate multiple data types, and new algorithms and tools for target selection.

Epilepsy affects more than 50 million people worldwide, and around one-third of patients suffer from drug-resistant seizures, highlighting the stark need for more effective therapies.

“Through this open innovation challenge, we expect to identify innovative digital solutions with the potential to improve the identification of new targets in drug-resistant epilepsy that can be validated preclinically,” said Rafal Kaminski, Chief Scientific Officer, Angelini Pharma. “This would help us build our early-stage pipeline, thus supporting our efforts in brain health.” 

Angelini Pharma researches, develops, and commercialises health solutions, focusing primarily on areas of brain health, including epilepsy. This is the company’s first Open Innovation Challenge with Wazoku.

Open Innovation has been a hugely successful way of driving innovative solutions in the pharmaceutical sector. It has been used to accelerate drug discovery and development and helps companies navigate challenges such as rising operational costs, product shortages, and the talent vacuum.

“Whether it’s helping to manage an ageing population, tackling mental health, addressing inequity in access to healthcare and medicine or combatting the rise of infectious diseases, open innovation is increasingly invaluable to the pharmaceutical sector and the wider world,” said Dino Ribic, Innovation Consultant, Wazoku. “Progressive companies like Angelini Pharma have recognised the benefits of collective intelligence, and I can't wait to see what the Wazoku Crowd delivers in this instance.”

The Wazoku Crowd is a 700,000-strong network of expert problem ‘solvers’, comprised of scientists, pharmacists, engineers, PhD students, CEOs, start-ups, and business leaders. It has a success rate of 80%+ in solving more than 2,500 challenges, delivering more than 200,000 innovations in the process.

Cash prizes totalling up to $25,000 are available for New Digital Approaches to Target Discovery in Epilepsy, based on theoretical evaluation of the written proposals by Angelini Pharma. The challenge closes on 18 March 2024.