Almirall launches the accelerator Digital Garden to drive digital innovation in dermatology

Almirall, S.A. (ALM) today announced the launch of the Digital Garden, a dermatology digital health accelerator focused on developing innovative technology-based services and solutions to accelerate their go-to-market plans and tackling some of the dermatology challenges today and in the future. The selection of the first cohort of the Digital Garden has been selected in a pitch event held at the Frontiers Health annual event in Berlin.  In October, Almirall announced the launch of a first call for innovation to start-ups focused on digital innovations in medical dermatology. Since then more than 40 start-ups have shown interest to join the program via almiralldigitalgarden.com. Almirall preselected eight of them from among the many applicants to present their business model to an expert investor jury. The five winning projects will join a nine-month accelerator program starting in January at the Barcelona Health Hub.   In addition, the Digital Garden, powered by Almirall will also provide mentoring from top healthcare experts from Almirall and the potential to collaborate on actual projects within the company. The acceleration program includes the opportunity to leverage leading hospitals in Barcelona as a test bed for digital pilots, with potential access to HCPs and patients. The Digital Garden is not requiring an equity component from the start-ups, but rather will be finding up to € 50.000 based on milestones agreed between Almirall and the start-ups.

“Our commitment to innovation goes beyond our investment in solutions for medical dermatology, we are convinced that building a future in collaboration with digital health leaders is one of the best ways to address the needs of our patients. We are so pleased to launch the Digital Garden and demonstrate what digital innovation can bring to medical dermatology,” explained FrancescaWuttke, Almirall’s Chief Digital Officer. 

The five chosen start-ups   The five chosen start-ups share Almirall’s purpose of transforming the patients’ world by helping them and realizing their hopes and dreams for a healthy life through a focus on digital innovation as a tool to accelerate the delivery of breakthrough solutions for a healthy life.Those are:   Haut.Al: This platform created in Estonia develops Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms to recognise skin diseases. Haut AI recognizes conditions based on machine learning of a database of more than 100,000 images.  Derma2go: This innovator helps both patients and dermatologists. The app samples the patient’s skin through an image, provides a description of the problem and gives the patient a dermatological diagnosis within 24 hours. It aims to serve as triage tool and to cut costs and waiting times for appointments in response to the shortage of dermatologists.  AutoDerm: AutoDerm is an app that helps patients with skin diseases. The patient takes a picture as a sample and the team sends them recommendations for medication and any other treatments.  Intrepid Analytics: This app improves and speeds up recruitment to clinical trials through a website that can attract a larger and more diverse patient group, speeding up trials and reducing the risk of additional testing. The project aims to be a gateway through which patients can gain faster access to clinical trials.   UVisio: It seeks to inform users about their skin’s ultraviolet (UV) exposure. The platform requires the user to wear a portable device that operates as a sun exposure monitor, called the Sun Clip. The Sun Clip enables the app to measure an individual’s UV exposure and then give them advice on how to protect themselves. 

About Frontiers Health  Frontiers Health is a global event in digital health innovation with a strong focus on digital treatments, breakthrough technologies, healthcare transformation, investment and ecosystem development.  About Almirall  Almirall is a global pharmaceutical company with a focus on skin health that partners with healthcare professionals, applying science to provide medical solutions for patients and future generations. Our efforts are focused on fighting skin diseases and helping people feel their best. We support healthcare professionals by continuously improving treatments and bringing our innovative solutions to bear where they are needed.  The company, founded almost 75 years ago and with headquarters in Barcelona, is listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange (ticker: ALM). Almirall is a key creator of value for the community through its engagement with its stakeholders and its resolve to help others by understanding their challenges and by using science to solve real-life problems. Turnover in 2018 was €811 million. Almirall has more than 1,800 employees.  For more information, please visit almirall.com