The Grand Hack is MIT Hacking Medicine’s annual flagship event dedicated to energise, infect and teach healthcare entrepreneurship and digital strategies to scale medicine as a way to solve health problems worldwide. More than 500 participants, mentors and sponsors from 25 US states and 29 countries are expected to gather on campus in the MIT Media Lab for this year’s Grand Hack, the largest healthcare hackathon in the US.
As a strategic sponsor, Hikma and its venture capital arm Hikma Ventures will support the Grand Hack’s 'Personalised Medicine' theme, which focuses on solving challenges in improving preventative medicine, treatment affordability and personalised medicine dosages. Hikma will also have representatives on-site to speak with those attendees interested in exploring opportunities to join Hikma in its mission of putting better health within reach of millions of people through its high-quality medicines and healthcare solutions.
“As a company dedicated to using insight and expertise to transform cutting-edge science into healthcare solutions that improve people's lives, Hikma is thrilled to support the MIT Grand Hack,” said Hamzeh Abdul-Hadi, Senior Associate of Hikma Ventures. “This is an excellent opportunity to engage with like-minded innovators across the healthcare spectrum who all share the same enthusiasm and dedication to helping solve today’s healthcare challenges.”
“We established Hikma Ventures because we believe that technology and digital tools in healthcare are now a necessity for all healthcare stakeholders, and pharma’s role will be key in the adoption and spread of emerging technologies,” said Lana Ghanem, Managing Director Hikma Ventures. Hikma Ventures is the corporate venture capital fund of Hikma that is focused on investing in global digital health startups. “We invest in companies that can supplement Hikma’s business model and differentiate Hikma’s offering to address a range of healthcare challenges.”
“Hackathon” is a combination of the words “hack” and “marathon.” Hackathons are commonly associated with programming and computer science but, in health hackathons, not all participants are coders. They come from diverse backgrounds, address pain points in healthcare delivery, and assess business viability as an integral component of their hacks. MIT’s hackathons bring together the whole healthcare ecosystem – patients, nurses, doctors, engineers, developers, designers, business people, insurance and policy experts. Together they attack healthcare challenges using a diverse and interdisciplinary approach.
MIT Hacking Medicine was founded in 2011 and offers immense promise to the healthcare community. It comprises MIT students and community members who are aimed at energising the healthcare community and accelerating medical innovation. They accomplish this by carrying out health hackathons, design thinking workshops, and networking gatherings to teach healthcare entrepreneurship. The group has organised more than 150 events across 15 countries and 5 continents. More than 40 companies have been created through these MIT-related hackathons, raising over $150 million in venture funding.