Big Biomarker Prize

Prize4Life, a nonprofit group based in Cambridge, Mass., is offering a $1 million prize for the successful identification of a biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's or motor neuron disease. The group is posting the challenge on the Internet through InnoCentive, a website aimed at researchers who can offer solutions to scientific problems posed by companies. The prize offer, which expires in two years, is the largest the site has posted.

Prize4Life was founded in June by a group of Harvard Business School students, including Avichai (Avi) Kremer, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2004. Inspired by the X Prize Foundation, which has offered prizes in the areas of space travel and genomics, the volunteer group believes prizes are powerful incentives to accelerate ALS research. It has been raising money through contributions and financial commitments directed toward the prizes.

"We are trying to build awareness of the problems that are preventing the development of effective therapies," says Nate Boaz, an associate with the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. and CEO of Prize4Life. After spending two years raising millions of dollars and supporting research in the traditional sense, Boaz explains, "we brought together companies and researchers and Avi asked them, 'Why aren't you developing treatments for ALS?' "

According to Boaz, it boiled down to a lack of cost-efficient ways to test treatments, to test libraries of compounds, and to access new therapies developed in academic labs. The initial challenge posted on InnoCentive is the identification of a biomarker for measuring disease progression. Identifying a specific measurement that can aid in disease detection and response to therapy is an important goal, says Jill A. Panetta, InnoCentive's chief scientific officer.

"Such markers can potentially speed up drug discovery protocols and substantially shorten time and expense for treatment trials in ALS," adds Robert H. Brown, Harvard Medical School professor of neurology and a member of Prize4Life's scientific advisory board. Prize4Life intends to also offer prizes for high-throughput screening methods for ALS drug candidates and for the identification of new therapies to extend patient life. Its advisory board sets the criteria for the challenges and will determine the best solutions and challenge winners.