Immunify.life HIV clinical Study

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem.

The solution rewards patients to comply with best practice treatment. The cryptocurrency rewards can be converted through our patient App and used to purchase everyday essentials.

[GENERAL] Summarize your relevant experience.

The management team has over 80 plus years of experience in Global healthcare. The Team has extensive experience implementing international disease suppression plans across Asia and Involved in developing several successful healthcare businesses.

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Immunify Life will deliver and pilot a healthcare ecosystem to track and manage people living with HIV who are currently not taking medication. The goal is improving compliance with their treatment and ultimately saving lives. Doctors and other healthcare workers, using the Immunify.life software will create a patient record, which is updated over time with every visit. Data such as id verification, medical history, drug treatment and outcomes are captured in real time. Patients will be offered the chance to receive rewards, They have their identify verified, provide consent to participate and then receive Immunify.life crypto rewards (triggered by the Healthcare worker) each month after meeting defined treatment goals. Patients receive rewards through the IMM patient app. The pilot in Kenya will be a controlled supervised clinical trial conducted in association with a local university (MMUST) and academics from Cambridge University.

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

The crypto incentive reward will act directly to encourage (lapsed) HIV positive patients to take their medication.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

1. Fluctuations in token prices during study could result in inconsistent rewards and potentially confuse results

Funds earmarked for token rewards will be used to purchase USDC or similar stable tokens at the start of the study and progressively drawn down to be deployed as IMM reward tokens as required .

1. Difficulty in recruiting adequate numbers of HIV patients, who have stopped treatment

Immuify will closely monitor patient recruitment rates . If recruitment is slower than planned further clinics can be trained and utilized to broaden the footprint of the study,

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

Conduct project validation research Kenya ( Completed) 

Agree to budget and timeline with MMUST University. (Completed)

Customise software and data fields to meet local medical practices , drug formulary and appropriate 

Social economic parameters in consultation with AMPATH a local NGO and Cambridge. (completed)

Commence online training of academics and healthcare workers. (completed) 

Launch kick off meeting in Kakamega country, western Kenya July/August 2023

600 Patients begin enrolment and are randomly divided into two groups incentivised and non incentivised and tracked.

Patient records are updated real time during each visit , including clinical effectiveness data   (monitoring the impact of treatment on HIV markers)

Data quality monitored remotely ongoing throughout the study to ensure accuracy and completeness.

Milestone 1 finalization of Medical software ( completed)

Milestone 2 finalization of patient app ( completed)

Milestone 3 study kick off August 2022 

Milestone 4 First patient in (enrolled) incentives begin deployment September 2022

Milestone 5 last patient enrolled November 2022

Milestone 6 last patient out ( completes 6 months of treatment) May 2023

Milestone 7 data collection and analysis July 2023

Milestone 8 publication of study results international medical journal September 2023

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

The total budget for the study/program is $200,000 USD, the grant applied for is to cover the patient incentivisation component of the program, therefore, for the incentivised segment of the study.

300 patients incentivized by $20 USD over 6 consultations: $36,000 USD.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

The key people working on the project are:

• Daniel Kenny is Immunify Life’s COO, Daniel is heading up the study for Immunify.Life, responsible for all aspects of the study, including partnership management, study scope,  

• Diego Cruces is Immunify.Life’s CTO, Diego is responsible of all technologies implemented, internally or outsourced developments. These include but are not limited to Immunify.Life’s Clinical Platform and Immunify.Life Patient App.

All members of Immunify.Life team are documented on the website.

External Partners:

Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology : Clinical implementation partners in Kenya

AMPATH : Defined protocol for socioeconomic data capture.

Hexaware Technology partners

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

Yes we may come to the community to help tackle other health issues in Africa.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

We will be using the following 4 measures to assess the projects progress:

• Patient Enrollment Reported by our clinical partners Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology
• Patient App Signup
• Tokens issued as incentives Tracked through blockchain
• Subjective reporting from field clinicians on adoption and adoption blockers

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

• "Token incentivisation is an effective mechanism to drive treatment compliance by low socioeconomic HIV patients in Africa."
• "Crypto token and micropayment accessibility are sufficient to facilitate the above incentivisation in low socioeconomic HIV patients in Africa."

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

New Project

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating

SDG Goals

3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

SDG Subgoals

3.3 - By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases

3.5 - Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol

3.d - Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks

9.1 - Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

3.3.1 - Number of new HIV infections per 1,000 uninfected population, by sex, age and key populations

3.3.5 - Number of people requiring interventions against neglected tropical diseases

3.d.1 - International Health Regulations (IHR) capacity and health emergency preparedness

Universal Human Rights Index (UHRI)

56.The Committee is concerned about the high rates of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and the lack of access to antiretroviral drugs for both mothers and children infected with the virus.

57. In the light of its general comment No. 3 (2003) on HIV/AIDS and the rights of the child, the Committee recommends that the State party improve follow-up treatment for mothers infected with HIV to avoid mother-to-child transmission, and ensure early diagnosis and early initiation of treatment of children, by improving access and coverage of antiretroviral therapy and prophylaxis.