^{Janine Erler, winner of the 2025 Investment Prize for Neumirna Therapeutics. Presenting the prize is Bernice Martin Lee, Epilepsy Foundation of America’s (EFA) Chief Executive Officer; Jacqueline French, MD, EFA’s Medical Director; and Caitlin Grzeskowiak, PhD, EFA’s Chief Research and Innovation Officer. Shark Tank judges: Howard Goodkin MD, PhD, President, AES, Pediatric Neurologist at the University of Virginia; Amy Brooks-Kayal MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of California Davis; Mark Currie, PhD Venture Partner Iaso Ventures; Enrique Carrazana MD, Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Neurelis}

BOWIE, Md., June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Epilepsy Foundation of America announced today that it has awarded $250,000 in funding at their 2025 Shark Tank Competition on Thursday, May 29, 2025.

The competition was held during The Epilepsy Study Consortium’s biennial Epilepsy Therapies & Diagnostics Development (ETDD) Symposium. This symposium reflects the shared commitment to advancing innovation in epilepsy treatment and care.

The Shark Tank competition was reformatted for 2025 to feature two categories. The first is the Community Award, with winners receiving a prize value of up to $50,000. The winning entries were selected through live voting by conference attendees. Additionally, a panel of judges (Sharks) representing non-profit organizations, people with epilepsy, advocates, as well as physicians asked questions and voted for their top choice.

The second category was the Investment Prize. The winner was selected by a panel of judges (Sharks) who represent leading industry investors, corporate executives, and clinical experts. The project deemed the most innovative was announced after a live pitch competition at the conference, and the winner received $200,000 from the NeuroImpact Fund to accelerate the idea towards improving the quality of life of people with epilepsy.

This year’s Community Award winnings were split between two exciting technologies for the epilepsy community.

• Philippe Ryvlin, creator of EPISAVE received a prize of $12,500. EPISAVE is an AI-powered app running on Android to create a low-cost solution to detect and characterize seizures to be used in low-and-middle income countries. The goal is to reduce the risk associated with seizures and SUDEP.
• Tim Buckinx of ARETAEUS MC received a prize of $37,500 for his real-time responsiveness testing for individuals experiencing absence epilepsy (AE). This is done by integrating automated cognitive testing with wearable EEG-based seizure detection to provide immediate insights into seizure-related cognitive impairment.

2025’s Investment Prize was awarded to one individual working to target the source of epilepsy to help stop seizures.

• Janine Erler of Neumirna Therapeutics is developing an AntiSense Oligonucleotide (ASO) RNA therapy targeting miR-134, a microRNA (miRNA) known to be increased in epilepsy patients.
  

“The caliber of this year’s competition was truly exceptional. The innovative technologies and therapies presented hold significant promise for advancing epilepsy care,” said Bernice Martin Lee, Chief Executive Officer of the Epilepsy Foundation. “I commend all the finalists for their groundbreaking contributions, and I am confident that their efforts will lead to meaningful outcomes for the epilepsy community.”

Inspired by the television show “Shark Tank,” the annual competition invites entrepreneurs from around the world to pitch their products and compete for funding.

“We look for bold, forward-thinking ideas that can truly change the landscape for people with epilepsy,” said Caitlin Grzeskowiak, PhD, Chief Research and Innovation Officer at the Epilepsy Foundation. “The winners this year are working on technologies and therapies with exciting potential. We’re thrilled to help bring these innovations closer to the people who need them most.”

In addition to this year’s Shark Tank Competition, the 2015 Shark Tank winners had the opportunity to share updates about their winning innovation ten years later. Rohan Hoare announced FDA approval of their technology, Epiminder in April 2025. Their past Shark Tank win was pivotal in accelerating the work of Epiminder. They are proud of what has been accomplished and look forward to what is ahead for their technology.

The event closed out with the presentation of the Epilepsy Foundation’s Lifetime Accelerator Award to internationally acclaimed neurologist and epilepsy researcher Dr. Orrin Devinsky.

Each year, the Lifetime Accelerator Award is presented to a physician, scientist, industry leader, or other individual who has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to bringing new therapies to people with epilepsy. Lifetime Accelerator Award recipients are chosen by an independent committee of global thought leaders and clinical investigators in epilepsy and seizure therapy discovery and development. 

Dr. Devinsky has been a trailblazer in the development of new therapies for epilepsy, most notably serving as the Principal Investigator of the pivotal Phase III cannabidiol (CBD) trials for Dravet Syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. Both published in the New England Journal of Medicine, these trials were instrumental in demonstrating the efficacy of CBD in reducing seizures, a milestone that helped change the therapeutic landscape for drug-resistant epilepsies.

For more information about the Shark Tank Competition, please visit epilepsy.com/sharktank.

About Epilepsy
Epilepsy is considered by world experts to be the most common serious brain disorder worldwide with no age, racial, social class, national or geographic boundaries. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) estimates that 3.4 million people in the United States are affected by epilepsy. Epilepsy is the underlying tendency of the brain to produce seizures which are sudden abnormal bursts of electrical energy that disrupt brain functions. 

About the Epilepsy Foundation of America
The Epilepsy Foundation is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by epilepsy through education, advocacy, research, and connection. For more than five decades, the Epilepsy Foundation has shone a light on epilepsy to promote awareness and understanding, and to advocate for laws that matter to people with epilepsy, while also funding epilepsy research and supporting epilepsy investigators and specialists in their early careers. In partnership with the CDC, the Epilepsy Foundation has helped to improve access to care for people with epilepsy and trained more than 600,000 people in seizure recognition and first aid. The Epilepsy Foundation continues to focus on serving the epilepsy community through advocacy, education, direct services, and research for new therapies. To learn more visit epilepsy.com or call 1.800.332.1000; in Spanish at 866.748.8008 or laepilepsia.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/58b9254d-6650-475b-ab05-debf1f727432

MEDIA CONTACT:
Kaitlyn Gallagher
301.918.3756
kgallagher@efa.org