Banyan Biomarkers Selected As Final Winner Of GE Corporation And NFL Head Health Challenge I

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Banyan Biomarkers, Inc., the leader in developing biomarkers for traumatic brain injury (TBI) diagnosis, today announced that the company has been selected as one of six final winners of the GE and NFL Head Health Challenge I. The $500,000 award will be used to conduct research on over twenty brain injury biomarkers to help understand the effects of concussion in contact sports. This reward is in addition to the $300,000 Banyan Biomarkers received as one of the initial 16 winners of round 1 of the Head Health Challenge I.

“The ability to detect neural injury is the first step in developing an objective test for TBI and ultimately make contact sports safer for all participants.”

Banyan Biomarkers will be collaborating with the University of Florida to collect blood samples from student athletes in football, basketball, women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, and other sports to identify brain injury biomarkers associated with concussion.

“We are honored to be selected as a final winner from the over 400 applicants,” stated Jackson Streeter MD, CEO of Banyan Biomarkers, “The ability to detect neural injury is the first step in developing an objective test for TBI and ultimately make contact sports safer for all participants.”

The GE and NFL Head Health Challenge I was announced in 2014 to identify and fund technologies to speed diagnosis and improve treatment for traumatic brain injury.

“We are truly impressed by the quality of the work and the measurable progress being made by Banyan Biomarkers and all of these winning organizations,” said Alan Gilbert, director health policy, government and community strategy for GE healthymagination. “There are a number of breakthrough ideas that are advancing our understanding of the brain and have applications not only on the playing field but also extend to neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.”

Jeff Miller, NFL senior vice president of health and safety policy said, “It’s exciting to witness the breakthroughs accomplished by the winners. Their efforts will truly advance the science around brain injury. We look forward to continuing to support this work and benefiting not only football and other sports, but society more broadly.”

TBI is a major medical condition with approximately 2.6 million people diagnosed in the United States each year. Currently, no simple point of care blood test exists for use by physicians in the emergency room or in the hospital to detect the presence and severity of brain trauma. It is estimated that there are over ten million patients that present to Emergency Departments in the U.S. each year that could benefit from a rapid diagnostic test for TBI.

About Banyan Biomarkers

Banyan Biomarkers, Inc. is focused on developing a simple point-of-care diagnostic blood test that could be used by physicians to rapidly detect the presence of mild and moderate brain trauma and improve the medical management of head injured patients. The Company’s test uses two protein biomarkers (Banyan UCH-L1™ and Banyan GFAP™) that rapidly appear in the blood after a brain injury. To learn more about Banyan Biomarkers, visit www.banyanbio.com.