How to develop a successful solution

Diverse problem-solvers from snakebite and other fields are needed to design impactful technological, social, logistical, and systems-level solutions.

Entries need to be submitted by 12pm noon UTC 16 September 2026.

During the entry period, we are offering resources to help you curate your solution and build your team:

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We’re calling for innovations that improve outcomes for people affected by snakebite, through stronger community responses and faster, equitable access to quality medical care.

We need practical, diverse solutions – not just high-tech apps, but improvements in logistics, community trust, first aid, and referral systems.

Innovations are needed across the patient journey in order to support better community responses, help people receive appropriate care faster, diagnose and assess the type of care they need, and improve the quality of medical care snakebite patients receive.

How to enter

Opportunities across the snakebite patient journey:

The prize seeks to improve outcomes for people affected by snakebite by incentivising innovative approaches to overcoming challenges in the patient journey.

First aid response

Assessment & diagnosis

Access & logistics

Emergency & supportive care

Spectacled cobra (Naja naja), Rathnapuri village, Hunsur Taluk, Mysuru district, Karnataka, India. A Spectacled cobra moves close to a group of people who remain unaware of its presence, illustrating the hidden risk of snake encounters in rural areas. (Note: this image has been staged to illustrate that those present in the image were unaware of the snake)

Solutions may be hyperlocal and focused on a single community, while others may be national, regional, or global.

Innovators will be required to justify their chosen level of reach, explain why that selection maximises impact, and share their plans for further scaling their solution.

Solutions should be centred on and informed by the end users to meaningfully contribute towards improving outcomes for people affected by snakebite.

End users could include patients, affected communities, first responders, traditional healers, and frontline health workers.

Douglas Rama, a traditional snakebite healer, Gede, Watamu, Kenya, sets out his paraphernalia used in his healing practices. Trusted in the community, traditional healers are often the first point of contact for education on snakebite dangers and prevention. In Africa, 80% of snakebite victims will visit a traditional healer like Douglas, or receive no treatment at all, though delays in medical care can increase the risk of death and long-term disability.
Workers sowing rice saplings, Rathnapuri village, Hunsur Taluk, Mysuru district, Karnataka. In the flooded paddy fields, workers plant rice barefoot to maintain balance on the slippery ground, leaving them vulnerable to snakebites hidden beneath the water.

To ensure lasting impact, solutions should be culturally resonant and accompanied by a credible plan for long-term sustainability.

Throughout the finalist development phase, teams must incorporate research, validation, or monitoring and evaluation elements appropriate to their stage of development, to measure their impact on the long-run.

Potential solutions within the snakebite patient journey:

Please note that the list below is by no means comprehensive. They seek to illustrate some types of solutions that can be applied at different stages of the patient journey. These illustrative examples have been trialed with varying levels of success globally; they are included here to spark ideas, not to serve as pre-validated or preferred approaches.

Response preparedness

Improving capacity to respond to bites when they happen.

  • Integrating traditional healers: Establishing collaborative referral networks with traditional healers so they manage non-venomous bites with safe remedies, while directing venomous cases to medical facilities.

  • Community education: Training community champions to deliver clear, practical guidance on what to do after a bite.

  • Antivenom banks and cost-sharing: Creating community-organised funds or regional pools to purchase and locally store antivenom, mitigating the catastrophic out-of-pocket costs that often deter people affected by snakebite from seeking care.

  • Field snakebite kits: Equipping communities or field nurses with emergency kits containing splints, EpiPens, manual resuscitators, and snake ID guides to stabilise patients before transport.

  • 24/7 digital hotlines: Establishing dedicated digital lines to advise people bitten by snakes on proper immediate actions and direct them to the nearest properly stocked health facility.

  • Safe transport training: Training first responders and paramedics in safe positioning during transport, including lateral positioning when needed to reduce aspiration risk.

  • Digital training: Such as smartphone apps that provide training and education on snakebite first aid.

WSIP-Patient Journey_Community Workers.png

First aid

Immediate and correct response by the bite victim or those around them.

  • Pressure pad immobilisation: Simple pressure pads or smart bandages bound directly over the bite wound to delay venom spread during transit, offering a safer, evidence-based alternative to harmful traditional practices like tourniquets or cutting the wound.

  • Drug delivery platforms: Methods to improve the delivery of drugs to the body, including microneedle patches designed for early, field-based treatment of snakebite envenoming, with the aim of delivering supportive or venom-inhibiting drugs rapidly before hospital care.

WSIP-Patient Journey_First Aid kit.png

Access & logistics

Getting people bitten to appropriate emergency medical care, or bringing appropriate care closer.

  • Motorcycle ambulances: Using trained volunteer riders to transport patients from remote areas to healthcare facilities, paired with the development and testing of a novel delivery programme with robust monitoring and evaluation.

  • Drone delivery networks: Partnering with autonomous delivery services to centralise antivenom inventory and deliver it on-demand to remote clinics, reducing waste and expanding where treatment can be effectively offered.

  • Cold-chain transport tools: Using mini chillers that ensure antivenoms are stored at optimal temperature to ensure safe transport to remote areas.

  • Mobile clinics: Extending access to assessment and early treatment in underserved areas.

  • Transport unions and commercial buses: Creating evidence-based social arrangements with local transport providers to offer free or prioritised transport to health facilities for snakebite emergencies.

  • Digital apps: Developing smartphone apps designed to call motorcycle-based ambulances or other transport options.

  • Predictive supply matching and rapid-dispatch logistics: Utilising predictive analytics software to forecast snakebite "hotspots" based on seasonal weather patterns and snake migration data to pre-position antivenom stock at strategic regional hubs before surges occur.

WSIP-Patient Journey_Rural Map.png

Assessment & diagnosis

Understanding patient needs and the treatment required.

  • Point-of-care tests: Using rapid bedside or in-field tools to detect venom and distinguish envenoming from dry bites, supporting immediate treatment decisions and preventing antivenom waste and anaphylaxis risk. Examples include lateral flow tests and blood clotting tests.

  • Clinical diagnosis support: Tools that help diagnose snakebite patients based on clinical information rather than direct toxin detection. Clinical information includes patient histories (such as circumstances of the bite) and physical examinations. Examples include decision support systems that help formulate treatment plans and vital sign monitoring devices.

  • Snake identification tools: Using non-patient tools, including AI photo-based apps, to identify the biting species and inform management.

  • Imaging tools: Utilising simple, low-cost imaging (e.g., infrared thermal imaging) to assess tissue damage and determine the severity of envenoming, guiding decisions on hospital admission, antivenom dosing, and follow-up.

WSIP-Patient Journey_Field Diagnosis.png

Emergency care

Immediate pain management and resuscitation, antivenom application, and management of adverse reactions.

  • Digital treatment support: Apps and digital protocols that guide facility staff through emergency snakebite management, including treatment steps, monitoring, and escalation.

  • Telemedicine and expert teleconsultation: Creating dedicated networks (e.g., structured WhatsApp groups) allowing rural clinicians to consult with toxinologists in real-time regarding diagnosis, antivenom dosing, and complication management.

  • Virtual reality telepresence: Utilising eyeglass cameras to allow remote experts to visually evaluate a patient's condition and guide local providers through emergency procedures in the field.

  • Airway and respiratory support: Tools and systems for bag-mask ventilation, oxygen delivery, intubation, and mechanical ventilation in neurotoxic envenoming.

  • Decentralised care models: Training non-physician personnel (like paramedics or community health nurses) to safely administer antivenom in indigenous or primary care health posts.

WSIP-Patient Journey_Healthcare Workers.png

Supportive care

Promoting recovery by treating shock, kidney failure, respiratory distress, bleeding, paralysis, wounds, etc.

  • Wound care: Interventions addressing local tissue damage caused by snakebites. Examples include debridement tools to remove non-viable tissue, dressings for snakebite wounds, topical treatments, laser therapies, and adapting protocols from other chronic wound or skin disease programmes.

  • Dedicated snakebite units: Creating specialised spaces within district hospitals, similar to stroke or coronary care units, equipped with specifically trained staff to centralise expertise for acute complications like kidney failure or bleeding.

WSIP-Patient Journey_Medical Equipment.png

Our judging criteria:

Entries are evaluated by independent Technical Assessors and our international Judging Panel across 6 core criteria.

Note that weightings differ across tracks; see below for weightings.

Teams and solutions must meet our eligibility criteria.

The judging panel will use a portfolio approach to balance the overall diversity of solution types, patient journey focus areas, and geographic representation.

View the detailed judging criteria in the innovator handbook

Useful information:

A vibrant, solid turquoise-blue pit viper coiled neatly on a mossy, textured tree trunk.

Innovator Handbook

Our prize handbook includes all the detailed information you will need to develop your solution and enter the prize.

Watch our prize introductory webinar

Watch our video to get a short overview of the prize, including the prize scope, structure, and support available to entrants.
South American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus terrificus), Brazil. This species delivers a potent neurotoxic bite capable of causing paralysis and death, underscoring the importance of rapid access to antivenom treatment.

About Snakebite

We are focusing on the patient journey, which are the critical hours between a bite and when a person receives effective emergency care.

1. Impact

Launch: 25% | Growth: 30%

We define 'impact' as a measurable improvement in patient outcomes for snakebite patients – reducing mortality and/or morbidity through more accessible, faster, and safer care along the patient journey.

2. Innovation & contribution to the field

Launch: 30% | Growth: 20%

We define 'innovation and contribution to the field' as what is original about the solution's approach and how it advances the snakebite field. Innovation could include novel, combined, or adapted interventions – whether a new process, cutting-edge technology, service or approach.

3. Implementation pathway & sustainability

Launch: 10% | Growth: 15%

We define 'implementation pathway and sustainability' as a solution's credible plan for how it will be delivered, funded, and adopted in high-burden settings – beyond the prize period.

4. Understanding of the end user

Both Tracks: 15%

We define 'understanding of the end user' as a solution's demonstrated knowledge of the needs, realities, and constraints of the people it aims to serve – and how these determine the design and development of the solution.

5. Team capability & project delivery

Both Tracks: 20%

We define 'team capability and project delivery' as the team's demonstrated ability to deliver their proposed solution through relevant expertise, strategic partnerships, and a realistic plan to meet proposed outcomes within the timeline.

6. Safety & Ethics

Both Tracks: Pass/Fail

The team should show they understand any risks associated with their solution and are committed to doing no harm when testing and implementing their solution.

Use your expertise to develop a practical solution to address the key barriers preventing someone from accessing lifesaving care for snakebite.

Challenge prizes support open innovation for diverse problem-solvers, enabling the most promising ideas to progress with funding and expert capacity-building support. We welcome those closest to the problem—rural health workers, community leaders, and people with first-hand experience of snakebite—who are already finding ways to respond but need support to scale their novel and practical approaches.

Enter now
A vibrant, solid turquoise-blue pit viper coiled neatly on a mossy, textured tree trunk.

The Wellcome Snakebite Innovation Prize is awarding £6.25 million to support the most impactful solutions.

A white drone hovering steadily in mid-air during a warm sunset or sunrise. The drone’s four propellers are blurred from spinning, and a camera gimbal is mounted underneath its body.
A joyful moment at a challenge prize celebration where two women are warmly embracing in a hug. One woman wears a vibrant orange and cream tie-dye garment with a matching headwrap and a wristwatch, while the other wears a patterned pink textured outfit and has her hair styled in thick braids. Surrounding attendees, including a man in a dark green tunic with a green lanyard, look on with bright smiles.
Gerard (Gerry) Martin and colleague, The Liana Trust, Rathnapuri village, Hunsur Taluk, Mysuru district, Karnataka, India. Gerry and his colleague conduct radio telemetry tracking of snakes in the field, gathering data to better understand snake movement and behaviour and to inform strategies for reducing human-snake conflict in local communities.
Dr. Eugene Erulu, Medical Doctor and Snakebite Specialist, Watamu Hospital, Watamu, Kenya, reviews a close-up of a letter highlighting the challenges of snakebite management. In Kenya, like other African countries, snakebite remains a neglected disease disproportionately affecting the rural poor, and Dr. Erulu emphasises the urgent need for government action in education and treatment.
A specialised three-wheeled motorised ambulance vehicle parked outside on a driveway. The vehicle features a motorcycle front end attached to a silver, diamond-plate enclosed cabin with red trim, clear glass windows, and an emergency light bar on the roof.
Dr. Nagaraj and nurse, Srinivasa Hospital, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Dr. Nagaraj and a nurse attend to an emergency snakebite patient in the hospital, highlighting the critical importance of timely medical care in managing venomous bites.