InnoStars Connect 2025

Chiesi Group is looking for groundbreaking solutions in Neonatal Respiratory Care.

Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome (NRDS) and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) are critical challenges in neonatal care, impacting survival and long-term health.

Key NRDS Challenges:

• Limited access to neonatal care and surfactant therapy, especially in underserved areas.
• Lack of reliable early diagnostic tools beyond FiO₂.
• Need for less invasive treatments and reduction of comorbidities like BPD.

Key BPD Challenges:

• No standardised definition, leading to inconsistent diagnosis and treatment.
• Lack of targeted therapies to reduce severity and long-term impact.

Chiesi Group is looking for innovative and sustainable solutions to improve neonatal care, focusing on:

• Early diagnosis & risk assessment (biomarkers, predictive models) also of possible comorbidities.
• Non-invasive monitoring (NICU & home settings).
• Smart, sustainable drug delivery & neonatal care solutions.
• Digital health innovations (apps for baby monitoring).
• Expanded neonatal care access, especially in low-resource settings.

Examples of Potential Innovations: Predictive -OMIC profiling, genetic testing, parental risk profiling, regenerative stem cell therapies, smart NICU solutions, remote monitoring, mHealth support, and improved enteral nutrition.

Supporting Preterm Babies:

• Improve disease management, reduce comorbidities, and provide respiratory rehabilitation.
• Use digital tools (apps, wearables) for early risk detection (e.g., preeclampsia, high blood pressure).
• Reduce rehospitalization and infection risks.
• Ensure access to appropriate prenatal care (e.g., steroid injections).
• Prevent complications in infants with BPD (e.g., COPD, infections)

Supporting Parents:

• Strengthen parent-child bonding and provide psychological support.
• Educate parents on home care (vaccines, infection prevention, oxygen portability).
• Improve clinical trial experiences (decentralized televisits, remote monitoring).
• Address health inequities by enhancing existing initiatives or launching new ones.

ULS de Coimbra seeks innovative digital solutions to optimise hospital scheduling, enhancing clinical workflows and patient appointment management.

Topic A. Digital Solutions for Hospital Management – Automatic Scheduling of Clinical Events: Solutions must be capable of processing and responding to real-time updates to avoid double bookings or delays.

Topic B. Digital Solutions for Hospital Management – Patient Management and Appointments: Systems should consider patients’ preferences and constraints, such as availability on specific days and language needs, to ensure equitable and effective scheduling. Utilising AI chatbots can enhance this scheduling process and improve patient communication.

This programme is open to:

• Hospitals
• Universities
• Research institutions
• SMEs – as defined by the European commission
• European health start-ups with a solution technology with a maturity level of at least TRL 6 – 9

The participants must have an established and registered representation/branch in:

• • EU Member States: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain.
  • Horizon Europe Associated Countries: Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Israel.
  • Outermost Regions: Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Martinique, Mayotte and Saint-Martin (France), the Azores and Madeira (Portugal), and the Canary Islands (Spain)

For more information on locations please consult this webpage.

During the programme we offer a lump sum of €10,000 per team to facilitate and support collaboration between the participants and the challenge owners. This funding must be used as follows:

• €6,000 on solution development
• €3,000 on traveling to bootcamp
• €1,000 on mentoring and coaching

Webinars are a great way to find out if the programme is a right fit for you. Join our next webinars and receive firsthand information from the programme manager.

• USL Coimbra Webinar: 7 April, 2025, from 11 AM to 12 PM CET

Join us here on 7 April, 2025 at 11 AM CET.

• Chiesi Group: 11 April, 2025, from 12 PM to 1 PM CET

Join us here on 11 April, 2025 at 11 AM CET.

Applications to InnoStars Connect are currently closed. Be the first to know about upcoming programmes and opportunities that may be a good fit for you by joining our mailing list.

Take a look to the call document here.