On Tuesday, June 19, SidekickHealth was honored to take the main stage to present our digital therapeutic platform at this year’s Roche Innovation Summit in Basel, Switzerland. Advancing through a competitive selection and evaluation process of 160 companies, SidekickHealth was one of two winners to earn this opportunity.
Roche and the Innovation Summit
As a global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics, Roche is focused on translating excellence in science to improve people’s lives. The company is strongly committed to innovation, investing almost €9B in R&D last year. As part of this commitment, Roche is driving health care forward by using digital technology to improve clinical studies and treatment outcomes, empowering patients and creating efficiencies in care.
The company’s third annual Innovation Summit on June 19 reflected the shifting global health care landscape. With the theme of “Transforming the Health Care Experience Together,” the Summit connected and inspired more than 800 employees from across the company and the industry. The event featured presentations, panels and workshops on topics such as designing a human-centric experience, health and prevention, the future of diagnosis and the shift to integrated care management.
Calling All Innovators
In the spring of this year, the European Innovation Council’s SME Instrument invited eligible startups from across Europe to apply for an opportunity to share their innovations at Roche Company Day on Monday, June 18. Of the 160 companies who submitted their interest, 16 were selected to present at Roche HQ.
Company Day kicked off with a warm welcome and introduction to the Roche Digital Innovation Lab. The 16 startups were organized into three categories – Mobile Health, Future Diagnostics and AI/RPA/Machine Learning – and made their business case to all of the attendees, who in turn voted for the “Final Four” pitches.
In addition to SidekickHealth, the final four included CellPly, an Italian biomedical company focused on near-patient diagnostic systems; SensDX, a Polish company that produces an illness detection telemedicine platform; and Genome Biologics, a German company working on AI-driven biotherapeutics.
The companies presented to a jury of top Roche executives, who evaluated the pitches according to key criteria: the innovation of each company, the relevance of its products and the performance of the presentation. From an outstanding group of startups, SidekickHealth and CellPly were selected to present on the main stage at the Innovation Summit.