Orexo and Lyfebulb Announce the Winner of the 2020 Innovation Challenge in Substance Use Disorders

UPPSALA, Sweden and NEW YORK, Oct. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Orexo, a Swedish pharmaceutical company focused on improved pharmaceuticals and digital therapies, and Lyfebulb, a patient empowerment platform, announced that Rohan Dixit of Lief Therapeutics was chosen as the winner of the Lyfebulb and Orexo Innovation Challenge: Solutions for Substance Use Disorders.

Lief Therapeutics has developed a wearable device that helps reduce stress and anxiety in real time using heart rate variability biofeedback training. The jury noted the high degree of co-morbidities observed between substance use disorders and anxiety. They applaud the introduction of new tools, to use in conjunction with traditional therapies, to both avert the onset of SUD and/or prevent a relapse in the condition.

"Lief is extremely honored to be selected as the winner of this Innovation Challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed a wave of substance use and mental health issues that are overwhelming an already-taxed system. With the funding from this generous award, Lief will be able to provide its breakthrough wearable technology to patients who might otherwise not get access to treatment," commented Rohan. "This is a critical moment for healthcare companies to think outside the box about how to deliver safe, effective care at scale to millions of people in need; Lief is excited to be a part of the solution."

Nine finalists were selected to compete at the virtual Innovation Challenge on October 15, 2020. The finalists, each motivated by personal ties to addiction or co-morbidities, pitched their company's solution to an expert jury representing various facets of the healthcare industry and patient community. Three recovery advocates further engaged the finalists in thought-provoking group discussions and an inspirational presentation by Lisa Smith provided her story on breaking the stigma of addiction. Ultimately, the jury selected Rohan as the winner of the $25,000 monetary grant to further the growth of his company.

"We are proud to support patient entrepreneurs at this summit and beyond in their efforts to turn challenging life obstacles into solutions to help others," said Dr. Karin Hehenberger, CEO and Founder of Lyfebulb. "The outstanding level of innovation, thoughtfulness and collaboration demonstrated over the past two days is further testament to the power we have as individuals to come together to work towards a common goal. We thank every participant for joining us and look forward to seeing the growth of impactful solutions in this space."

"During this event we have had the pleasure to meet with a highly diverse group of companies, all approaching substance use disorder in a unique way and pushing the dial on innovation within this space." said Mikaela Odlander, Director of Digital Therapeutics at Orexo. "We applaud and thank the finalist companies for their engagement and hard work throughout the process and extend our most sincere congratulations to Rohan Dixit and the Lief Therapeutics team on winning the competition."

More information about the challenge may be found on Lyfebulb's website at https://lyfebulb.com/innovation-award/orexo-2020.

About Orexo Digital Therapeutics

Orexo Digital Therapeutics (DTx) is the digital health arm of Orexo AB, a pharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes improved pharmaceuticals and digital therapies. The company addresses unmet needs mainly within the growing space of substance use disorder and mental health. Orexo DTx was created in Q4 of 2019 and currently has three products in the portfolio, vorvida® for alcohol misuse, deprexis® for depression, and OXD01 for opioid use disorder, all in partnership with the GAIA group.

Orexo DTx's mission is to redefine treatment of addiction by offering clinically validated digital therapeutics to ensure more successful treatment for patients and cost-effective solutions for payers. The digital products will be commercialized by Orexo DTx worldwide, with the U.S. as the principal market, where Orexo also commercializes its lead product ZUBSOLV® (buprenorphine and naloxone) sublingual tablets (CIII) for treatment of opioid use disorder.

Orexo is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm Mid Cap (ORX) and is available as ADRs on OTCQX (ORXOY) in the U.S. The company is headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden, where research and development activities are performed. For more information about Orexo please visit, www.orexo.com. You can also follow Orexo on Twitter, @orexoabpubl, LinkedIn and YouTube.

About Lyfebulb
Lyfebulb is a chronic disease-focused patient empowerment platform that connects patients and industry to support user-driven innovation. Grounded with its strong foundation in diabetes, the company has expanded disease states covered into cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, mental health, addiction, migraine, transplantation, and chronic cough. See www.lyfebulb.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Lyfebulb LinkedIn, and Karin Hehenberger LinkedIn. 

For more information:

Orexo Contact:
Mikaela Odlander
Director of Digital Therapeutics
Phone: + 46 187808802
Email: Mikaela.odlander@orexo.com

Lyfebulb Contact:
Karin Hehenberger, MD, PhD
CEO & Founder, Lyfebulb
Phone: + 1 917-575-0210
Email: karin@lyfebulb.com

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SOURCE Orexo