Zcube

Innovative solutions for the future of health

Zcube is the Zambon Group's Research Venture set up in 2003 to explore the sphere of research and innovation in the Life Sciences globally.

It identifies and develops modern solutions to improve patients’ lives, based on the use of digital technologies alongside traditional therapies. Zcube has three workstreams:

The development of innovative solutions inspired by the principles of value-based healthcare. Over the years, the importance of the Zcare division has steadily grown, leading to CareApt, a new start-up launched in 2018.
2020 saw the fourth edition of Open Accelerator, the international accelerator program dedicated to start-ups in the Life Sciences.
Corporate Venture investment activities in national and international funds operating chiefly in the Life Sciences sector.

Zcube actively collaborates with all players in the Life Sciences ecosystem and is on the jury of various start-up initiatives, including UniCredit StartLab, Premio Marzotto and MIt4LS.

 A completely digital edition of Open Accelerator
 With ParkinsonCare, CareApt launched a solidarity initiative, and it began development of DemedyaCare 
Corporate Venture continued its activities
 

Open Accelerator

Open Accelerator is the international accelerator program dedicated to start-ups in the Life Sciences. Now in its fourth edition, it identifies and finances the best solutions that will define the future of health.

The 2020 Call for Solutions was focused on the following categories:

Digital Diagnostics
Virtual Health
Digital prevention, monitoring & therapeutics
Clinical trials digitalization
Special challenge: New ways to interact

Following a careful selection process, eight international start-ups went on to participate in the intensive accelerator programme. They had access to a vast international network of entrepreneurs and Life Sciences professionals.

The Canadian start-up Hyivy Health won the Distinction Award and funding of up to €100,000, while the start-ups BreatheCore and WEARnCARE received the Special Support Program Award, which provides up to twelve months of management coaching.

Over the years, Open Accelerator has received applications from 228 candidates from 21 countries, has selected 36 start-ups and has awarded funding of up to €100,000 each to 9 start-ups. Zcube is currently in touch with all award-winning and participating start-ups for specific follow-up activities.

  Zcube is currently in touch with all award-winning and participating start-ups for specific follow-up activities 
 The Distinction Award was won by Canadian start-up Hyivy Health 
 The Special Support Program Award went to BreatheCore and WEARnCARE 
 

Open Accelerator Infographics — 2020 edition of Open Accelerator

2020 edition of Open Accelerator

Call For Solutions 2020

Distinction Award - Hyivy Health

Special Support Program Award - WEARnCARE

Special Support Program Award - BreatheCore

CareApt

CareApt is the start-up founded by Zcube in 2018, dedicated to the development of integrated Hi-Tech/Hi-Touch solutions for transforming chronic disease treatment into a person-centred experience of human relations and care.

Its first service was ParkinsonCare, a remote nursing care platform for people with Parkinson's Disease, their caregivers and their healthcare teams. It is a digital solution that combines a human interface, a digital platform for collaborative care and a suite of 13 digital algorithms.

In 2020, during the Covid-19 emergency, ParkinsonCare was made available free of charge throughout Italy.
During that period, this solidarity initiative—undertaken jointly with the non-profit organisation Confederazione Parkinson Italia, in partnership with the Carlo Besta Neurological Institute and Santo Stefano Riabilitazione, and with the sponsorship of Fondazione Limpe and Accademia Limpe-Dismov—led to the creation of the first digital collaborative healthcare network for Parkinson’s Disease in Europe and provided daily care to over 700 patients and their caregivers, enabling them to manage the disease from home and avoid hospital visits and outpatient consultations, thereby also reducing the risk of infection.

The ParkinsonCare experience, which has been recognized as an example of excellence by three leading international scientific publications, could provide a basis for establishing a paradigm applicable to a variety of other clinical settings in chronic disease care, thanks in particular to the service’s scalability.

The CareApt team is currently working to develop DemedyaCare, an occupational case & care management solution intended for people with dementia and their caregivers.

  ParkinsonCare brought into being Europe's first digital collaborative care network for Parkinson’s Disease 
 Over 700 patients received assistance free of charge during the Covid-19 emergency 
 DemedyaCare, intended for people with dementia and their caregivers, is in the pipeline 
 

ParkinsonCare at a glance

According to the results of a survey conducted by the Head of the Coordinating Research Centres (CRC) of the University of Milan, out of a sample of 116 patients who used ParkinsonCare, 97% of those interviewed said the service was easy to access, 88% stated that it had made it possible for them to better control their symptoms, and 86% said it had allowed them to improve their knowledge of the disease’s symptoms. Patient-Centricity a misura di Parkinson: un “caso” paradigmatico, CRC Head, Università degli Studi di Milano

As further proof of the model’s effectiveness and its innovative nature, ParkinsonCare aroused the interest of the international scientific community and was identified as an example of excellence in its field by three leading scientific publications.

Parkinson & Related Disorders
British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing
Nature Reviews

The ParkinsonCare campaign, created in partnership with INC, was selected as the winner in the Corporate Social Responsibility / Social Impact category of the 23rd Edition of the Assorel Award, a major Italian award in the field of communication.

CareApt team