LunaPBC - founder of LunaDNA, the first community-owned genomic and health data platform - was selected among hundreds of candidates as one of the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers. This award honors early to growth-stage companies around the world who are deploying new solutions with the potential to transform entire industries and positively impact the economy and society.
Being recognized as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer furthers LunaDNA's global push for people-centered research. The Forum's Precision Medicine initiative includes a focus on "Breaking Barriers to Health Data" across the globe. LunaDNA's platform offers unique features of data control, voluntary inclusion, transparency, and value sharing, which align well with the Forum's goals in this area. Both organizations strive to put individuals at the center of health research and establish a trust-based data sharing system.
In 2018, LunaDNA received precedent-setting qualification from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to grant members ownership shares for their data contributions. The monetary value of LunaDNA share ownership will be expressed through dividends consistent with an individual's ownership percentage. Holders of shares can increase their holdings over time by contributing more data, and intrinsic value in the database is created as research advances and medical discoveries are accelerated.
In January 2019, LunaPBC and Genetic Alliance announced a partnership to unite their shared mission, communities, and technologies to create seamless solutions to support disease foundations and patient advocacy organizations while also powering disease research at scale.
LunaPBC's CEO and co-founder Bob Kain will participate in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China on July 1-3. Kain will discuss the possibilities and potential impacts of cutting-edge molecular science and genetics involved in human longevity in the meeting section entitled, "What If: You Could Live to 150?" Select awardees will also attend the January 2020 Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland to continue contributing to Forum initiatives over the next two years.
"We're honored to receive this prestigious award. Like the Forum, our team believes progress happens by uniting people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change. LunaDNA's goals align well with World Economic Forum's Breaking Barriers Health Data Project," said Kain.
LunaDNA goes directly to individuals for private, transparent, and fair health data sharing thereby fixing historical research limitations of poor representation, missing information, and value imbalances. Putting people at the center of the model enables the ability to achieve longitudinal, patient reported, and structural determinants information critical for a complete picture of health influencers.
"We're pleased to welcome LunaPBC to this year's ground-breaking cohort of technology pioneers," says Fulvia Montresor, head of Technology Pioneers, World Economic Forum. "LunaPBC and the fellow pioneers are leading the charge by innovating with novel technologies to transform their industries. We see significant potential for these forward-thinking companies to shape solutions to global challenges and improve society in the years ahead."
A team of nearly 60 academics, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and corporate executives participated in the selection process of this year's Technology Pioneers. The selection committee based its decisions on criteria including innovation, potential impact, and leadership. Past recipients include Airbnb, Google, Kickstarter, Mozilla, Spotify, and Twitter.
About LunaPBC
Public Benefit Corporation, LunaPBC, is a private investor-owned company founded in November 2017. It is chartered to drive societal value through the aggregation and organization of genomic and health data at a scale and diversity rich enough to solve today's greatest health challenges. LunaPBC founded LunaDNA, the first people-powered, community-owned data sharing platform. The LunaPBC team, investors, and advisors are renowned in the patient-advocacy, health, and science fields, including several former chief executives of Illumina, industry academics, and financial executives.
For more information visit www.lunadna.com.
About World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. (www.weforum.org).
