Eyeworld

16 | EYEWORLD | OCTOBER 2020 ASCRS NEWS by Liz Hillman Editorial Co-Director virtual setting where pitches were evaluated by judges who selected who would win first prize for $25,000, second for $15,000, and third for $5,000. The judges • Juliet Tammenoms Bakker, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Longitude Capital • Richard Lindstrom, MD, Founder, Minnesota Eye Consultants; Partner, Flying L Partners • William Link, PhD, Managing Partner, Flying L Partners • Jim Mazzo, Advisor, Carl Zeiss Meditec; Executive Chairman, Neurotech; Advisor, Bain Consulting The pitches Gul Nankani, MD Company/concept: Bynocs Mentor: Jan Bonel Dr. Nankani pitched a new method of treating amblyopia as a binocular vision disorder. He said there are 234 million amblyopic patients worldwide (9 million in the U.S.), accounting for a market of $4.5 billion. "The current method of treating amblyopia is far from perfect. Eighty-five percent of cases are left with some form of residual amblyopia," he said, noting a lack of fusion and stereopsis with patching. "Amblyopia is now recognized as a binocu- lar problem and newer treatment modalities aim to treat both eyes together. Dichoptic therapy is now emerging as an effective option," Dr. Nankani said. T he second Winning Pitch Challenge, like nearly every medical meeting amid the COVID-19 pandemic, took place virtually after it was originally slated for the 2020 ASCRS Annual Meeting. Vance Thompson, MD, who co-moderated the Winning Pitch Challenge with Edward Holland, MD, in July from their respective offices, described how the goal of the program is to "speed up the pace of innovation in ophthalmology, to transform ASCRS member ophthalmologists' ideas into prototypes and early stage studies that lead to successful companies through providing educational resources, networking opportuni- ties, wonderful mentorship, and exposure to resources." "We think that the pace of innovation in ophthalmology can be significantly accelerated by providing ophthalmologists with tools and assistance that can help them transform their novel ideas for improvements in patient care into functioning prototypes that can be tested in early-stage studies," Dr. Thompson said. "The Winning Pitch Challenge website and events are designed to achieve this goal by providing ophthalmologists with free access to key edu- cational resources, highly experienced mentors with relevant business knowledge, network- ing opportunities, and exposure to potential financial resources and guidance that can help overcome critical, early stage obstacles, such as securing intellectual property, developing a working version of the product, identifying a team, and designing early stage studies." Prior to the symposium, the Winning Pitch Challenge accepts and reviews submissions and connects the ophthalmologist with the idea to a mentor who is experienced in the innovation cycle. The mentor advises the physician on how to create a pitch deck with their thoughts organized in a way that potential investors are used to analyzing. The completion of that pitch deck takes the applicant to Round 2. The Round 2 submissions are analyzed by the judges who drill down to three finalists who go on to the finals, Round 3. Round 3 took place in the Winning Pitch Challenge goes virtual continued on page 18 Judging criteria 1. Magnitude of problem 2. Innovativeness of solution 3. Market size and strategy 4. Potential for reimbursement by payers (vs. out-of- pocket payment) 5. Competitive analysis 6. Business model including capital requirements 7. Intellectual property 8. The team 9. Clarity of request for investment

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