Across Southeast Asia, an estimated 242,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes every year, and around 16,000 of them die. Most of them are farmers, rural workers, and children in communities where a hospital is too far, too slow, or too costly to reach in time. In one regional study, roughly 7 in 10 people who needed antivenom never received it.
The tragedy is that most of these deaths are preventable. Snakebite envenoming is a neglected public health crisis, not because the medical knowledge doesn’t exist, but because people affected by snakebite face a series of barriers between the bite and effective treatment: reaching a facility in time, affording the care, trusting the health system, and receiving the right diagnosis when they arrive.
Now, Villgro Philippines is inviting diverse problem-solvers across the region to help change that by supporting the Wellcome Snakebite Innovation Prize, a £6.25 million global prize funded by Wellcome and delivered by Challenge Works.
The challenge
A broad range of solutions are needed to address the critical barriers between bite and access to effective snakebite treatment, including community-relevant first aid tools, emergency transport solutions, affordable medical devices, and decision-making solutions for health workers.
While important work is being done to improve existing antivenoms and develop new treatments, there is a real need for technological, social, and system-level solutions to maximise the reach of these treatments and ultimately improve health outcomes. The obstacles that people face in reaching adequate care are not unique to snakebite and have commonality across various fields, including maternal health, stroke and cardiovascular care, rabies, malaria, anaphylaxis, and skin NTDs.
Who should apply
The prize actively seeks new problem-solvers. Whether you are a health worker, a researcher, a designer, an engineer, a transport provider, or a community organisation—your expertise can save lives. You don’t need a finished product. You don’t need to have everything figured out. If you have a clear problem and a promising idea, you are eligible to apply.
The Prize especially welcome those closest to the problem such as rural health workers and community leaders who are already finding ways to respond but need support to scale their approaches.
“Snakebite is a daily reality for farming families across Southeast Asia, and the solutions are often closer than we think such as in the health workers, engineers, and community organisations already solving last-mile problems in other fields. The application window for the Wellcome Snakebite Innovation Prize closes on 16 September, and we want to make sure innovators in this region know: you don’t need a finished product, and you don’t need to come from the snakebite field. If you have a promising idea that could help people reach care faster, this is your opportunity,” said Maroushka Lu, Villgro Philippines.
How the prize works
The Wellcome Snakebite Innovation Prize is a 4.5-year, staged-funding prize with two tracks:
The Launch Track — for new or repurposed ideas to develop a proof of concept. Ten finalists receive £75,000 each in development funding. Two winners receive up to £750,000 each.
The Growth Track — for mature solutions looking to be implemented or scaled to achieve health impact. Five finalists receive £100,000 each. Two winners receive up to £1.75 million each.
As well as funding, the prize provides innovator support, capacity building, and a collaborative network connecting problem-solvers with snakebite experts, people with lived experience, and business development support. Applicants do not compete across tracks — Launch and Growth entries are assessed separately, enabling collaboration rather than competition between teams at different stages.
How to enter
Applications for the Wellcome Snakebite Innovation Prize are open from 17 June to 16 September 2026. Learn more about the Prize at bit.ly/4xs36AV.
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