Federal prize contests expand, offering $1 million for HIV access ideas

The National Institutes of Health’s Office of AIDS Research is offering a $1 million prize pool to spur innovative ideas that broaden the reach of long-acting HIV prevention and treatment, through the ARISE-HIV LAUNCH Challenge. Open to individuals, teams, community groups and firms without existing NIH funding, the contest asks participants to address gaps in access, delivery, engagement or retention of existing long-acting HIV products.

Entries must be submitted on HeroX by 5 p.m. Eastern on Aug. 6, with Phase 1 proposals evaluated on public-health significance (40 %), novelty (35 %) and real-world feasibility (25 %). The first round can award up to 35 prizes of $10,000, and winners may advance to a second phase where up to 13 could receive about $50,000 each. The challenge is part of a broader ARISE-HIV program involving all NIH institutes and is run under the federal prize authority of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act.

It runs alongside other government-sponsored competitions, including the Department of Energy’s $500,000 storage design prize and NASA-supported GoAERO contest for autonomous rescue aircraft. These initiatives illustrate a growing trend of agencies turning to open-innovation platforms to tap external expertise for complex societal problems.