A mobile app that offers cancer patients personalised support has won Janssen's inaugural Digital Health Masterclass Challenge.

Px HealthCare took the €30,000 first prize at last week's Janssen Healthcare Innovation and Johnson & Johnson event, which saw 20 digital health start-ups from nine European countries pitch to a panel of experts and investors.

The Amsterdam-based company's OWise app is designed to improve patient-doctor relationships, with a current focus on breast cancer, and aggregates user data for real-world evidence of drug side effects and interactions.

Janssen Healthcare Innovation, an entrepreneurial team within Janssen's R&D arm, said Px HealthCare's cutting-edge technology” highlights how digital health businesses across Europe are fast securing their position as key players in today's health ecosystem”.

Pictured from left: J&J's Pat Smallcombe and Marco Mohwinckel, Px HealthCare's Anne Bruinvels and J&J's Shawn Luetchens

Placed second and third in the competition were DrEd and Onco Drug Personalized Med (ODPM), taking prizes of €15,000 and €5,000 respectively.

Online doctor service DrEd currently operates out of the UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland and provides remote medical consultations for a range of conditions, including sexual health testing and travel health.

France-based company ODPM, meanwhile, develops web-based toxicity calculators for patients receiving treatment with fluoropyrimidines to ensure they receive the right dose. This helps improve their quality of life during chemotherapy and can reduce hospital costs.

Marco Mohwinckel, a partner at Janssen Healthcare Innovation, said: “We want to congratulate not just the winners of this award, but all 20 companies who were selected to take part in the Digital Health Masterclass Challenge. The judging panel was hugely impressed by the digital healthcare solutions demonstrated by all the participating companies. Reaching a final decision was not easy.”

Janssen received over 100 applicants for its Masterclass and the 20 start-ups selected participated in three sessions in Berlin, Barcelona and London. Part of the sessions brought the companies together with customers, international influencers, executives from the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies and investors.

Patrick Verheyen, head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, London, said: “Connecting innovators with the right resources has the potential to accelerate new health solutions and improve the lives of patients. By pooling the expertise across the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, we can be a catalyst to these rising stars of digital health and others in the innovation ecosystem.”

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