Sandoz Healthcare Access Challenge (HACk) returns, seeking digital solutions to local healthcare access challenges

• Despite major advances in modern medicine, universal access to healthcare remains the largest unmet medical need
• Building on the inaugural Sandoz HACk, this year's competition expands to seek broader digital solutions to local healthcare access challenges
• Three shortlisted entrants will attend South by Southwest (SXSW), where Sandoz will work with them to create scalable solutions that could improve people's lives

The digital press release with multimedia content can be accessed here:

Holzkirchen, October 4, 2018 - Sandoz, the Novartis generics and biosimilars division, today announces the launch of the second Sandoz Healthcare Access Challenge (HACk).

The Sandoz HACk is a global competition that invites entrepreneurs and innovators in the field of digital technology to submit inspirational ideas with the potential to complement - or even positively disrupt - established approaches to driving access to healthcare. Sandoz HACk opens for entries today (October 4), closing on November 30, 2018.

Universal access to healthcare is still arguably the largest unmet medical need and, while great strides continue to be made globally, access challenges vary hugely across geographies and communities. Therefore, a major step towards improving healthcare access globally is to identify and understand the specific needs of local communities.

"There are still two billion people in this world not getting the medicines they need. This is why we are launching Sandoz HACk as we aim to inspire and embrace the brave and innovative thinking of entrepreneurs and visionaries to improve access to healthcare around the world", said Richard Francis, Division Head and CEO of Sandoz.

Francis added: "Building on the inaugural Sandoz HACk, this year we are broadening the competition to anyone, anywhere, with an idea that uses digital technology to help address a local healthcare access challenge. By collaborating, we hope to create ambitious-yet-practical digital solutions that, with scale, could have a significant impact on people's lives."  

Digital innovation promises cost-effective and practical solutions with the power to transform access. Last year, Sandoz HACk focused on m-health (mobile health). This year's theme is 'Leveraging Digital Technologies to Solve Healthcare Access Challenges': encouraging ideas that can drive patient access or help healthcare providers to reach more people.

Three shortlisted entrants, to be announced in January 2019, will receive support from Sandoz experts to develop their ideas and transform potential into real impact. Our three finalists will travel to the world's leading forward-focused gathering of creative minds, South by Southwest (SXSW; Austin, Texas) in March 2019, to explore, network and discover the latest innovative trends. Following in-person selection, one winner will be chosen and awarded seed funding and support from Sandoz, to help bring their idea to life.

For more details on how to enter the competition and terms and conditions, see here.

To view this year's video, see here.

Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook using #SandozHACk.

About Sandoz HACk
As the global leader in biosimilars, generic antibiotics and generic oncology medicines, Sandoz aims to play a leading role in making access happen for people around the world. Through Sandoz HACk we will use our expertise to bring access ideas in these areas, and beyond, to life. We believe that small ideas can spark big change and that, together, we can co-create ambitious-yet-practical solutions that break down access barriers around the world.

About Sandoz
Sandoz is a global leader in generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars. As a division of the Novartis Group, our purpose is to discover new ways to improve and extend people's lives. We contribute to society's ability to support growing healthcare needs by pioneering novel approaches to help people around the world access high-quality medicine. Our portfolio of approximately 1000 molecules, covering all major therapeutic areas, accounted for 2017 sales of USD 10.1 billion. In 2017, our products reached well over 500 million patients. Sandoz is headquartered in Holzkirchen, in Germany's Greater Munich area.

Sandoz is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Sandoz_global at http://twitter.com/Sandoz_Global.

Follow our blog at www.sandoz.com/makingaccesshappen

For further details visit www.sandoz.com/makingaccesshappen

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Novartis Media Relations

Central media line: +41 61 324 2200
E-mail: [email protected]