FIND launches sample transport packaging design competition

• US$10,000 prize will be awarded for an innovative sample transport packaging solution
• FIND will facilitate match-making between the winning designer and a manufacturer in a low- and middle-income country, as well as pilot the winning design in the selected country once it has been produced by the manufacturer

Geneva, Switzerland – 8 April 2019 – The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) announced today the launch of a design innovation competition for the development of a next-generation sample transport packaging solution that can be used in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). A US$10,000 prize will be awarded for the design of a scalable prototype of an innovative packaging solution that can safely and securely transport diagnostic samples, such as blood or sputum. The announcement was made on the occasion of World Health Day 2019.

Many diagnostics rely on viable clinical samples in order to work accurately. However, samples are often transported using improvised containers that are unsafe and compromise sample integrity. Commercially available sample transport solutions and packaging can be costly, non-environmentally friendly, and come with supply chain and disposal challenges.

FIND seeks to spur the design and development of a fit-for-purpose sample transportation packaging solution that can fill this gap for multiple diseases. The aim is to help facilitate safe scale-up of and access to diagnostic services in LMICs. The prize is open to individuals, organizations and teams, including patient groups, advocacy organizations, non-governmental organizations, appropriate legal profit or non-profit entities working on diagnostics for use in resource-poor settings, students, designers and engineers.

The scope of the competition includes secondary packaging and outer packaging layers and does not include designing the sample container. Successful solutions will be cost-effective, safe and scalable in LMICs.

The winning design will be announced at the Union World Conference on Lung Health in India in October 2019. The winner will also be supported by FIND to attend the conference.

The closing date for entries is 30 June 2019.

For more information, and to apply, please click here.

# # #

About FIND
FIND is a global non-profit organization that drives innovation in the development and delivery of diagnostics to combat major diseases affecting the world’s poorest populations. Our work bridges R&D to access, overcoming scientific barriers to technology development; generating evidence for regulators and policy-makers; addressing market failures; and enabling accelerated uptake and access to diagnostics in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Since 2003, we have been instrumental in the development of 24 new diagnostic tools. Over 50 million FIND-supported products have been provided to 150 LMICs since the start of 2015. A WHO Collaborating Centre, we work with more than 200 academic, industry, governmental, and civil society partners worldwide, on over 70 active projects that cross six priority disease areas. FIND is committed to a future in which diagnostics underpin treatment decisions and provide the foundation for disease surveillance, control, and prevention.

Media contact
Sarah-Jane Loveday, Head of Communications, FIND
T: +41 (0) 22 710 27 88
M: +41 (0) 79 431 62 44
media@finddx.org