Ditch News
From us to you, our latest news.
Ditch Labs Wins The Jury’s First Prize Following Acfas Competition’s 6th Edition
Following the event, the research team of Ditch Labs, Inc. led by Research Director and Partner Christelle Luce, Co-Founder and CTO Olivier Bourbonnais, Pharmacologist Mehdi El Hassani, Researcher in Psychology Éric Hanigan and Financial Analyst Naïl Sousa Cordeiro as part of the 6 finalist teams, wins the jury’s first prize.
MONTREAL, QC/March, 2022 – The 6th edition of Acfas competition occurred on March 29th and was broadcasted live.
Following the event, the research team of Ditch Labs, Inc. led by Research Director and Partner Christelle Luce, Co-Founder and CTO Olivier Bourbonnais, Pharmacologist Mehdi El Hassani, Researcher in Psychology Éric Hanigan and Financial Analyst Naïl Sousa Cordeiro as part of the 6 finalist teams, wins the jury’s first prize. The prize includes a value of more than $22,000 in consulting and scholarship services. The company sincerely thanks Acfas and the jury for the opportunity to participate.
“We couldn’t be happier following the performance of our research team which includes Christelle Luce, P.h.D, Olivier Bourbonnais, Mehdi El Hassani, Éric Hanigan and Naïl Sousa Cordeiro during yesterday’s competition of Acfas. It is an honor to have participated and to be the winning team of the jury’s first prize! Congratulations to all the participants and thanks to the jury for their time and support.” - Ditch Labs, Public Statement
Ditch Labs Announced As Finalist Of ACFAS Competition’s 6th Edition
Ditch Labs, Inc. becomes finalist of the renowned Génies en Affaires competition which will occur live on Facebook on March 29th, 2022. The event will include a 5-minute question period following an 80-second sales pitch and a vote from the public to choose the winners.
MONTREAL, QC/March, 2022 – Led by Research Director and Partner Christelle Luce, Co-Founder and CTO Olivier Bourbonnais, Pharmacologist Mehdi El Hassani, Researcher in Psychology Éric Hanigan, Financial Analyst Naïl Sousa Cordeiro and Medical Devices Consultant Jean-Pierre Desmarais, Ditch Labs, Inc. becomes finalist of the renowned Génies en affaires competition which will occur live on Facebook on March 29th, 2022. The event will include a 5-minute question period following an 80-second sales pitch and a vote from the public to choose the winners.
Ditch Partners With The CRIQ, Investissement Québec's World-Renowned Laboratory, For Nonclinical Testing
MONTREAL, QC/January, 2022 – Ditch Labs, Inc.’s partnership with the CRIQ led by Research Director and Partner Christelle Luce, Co-Founder and CTO Olivier Bourbonnais and Pharmacologist Mehdi El Hassani, will serve the objective of characterizing the aerosol generated by the DitchPen™.
MONTREAL, QC/January, 2022 – Ditch Labs, Inc.’s partnership with the CRIQ led by Research Director and Partner Christelle Luce, Co-Founder and CTO Olivier Bourbonnais and Pharmacologist Mehdi El Hassani, will serve the objective of characterizing the aerosol generated by the DitchPen™. The company intends to present a toxicology report to the FDA and Health Canada in order to receive a Clinical Trial Authorization (Health Canada) and an Investigational New Drug approval (FDA).
Ditch Completes Successful Integration And Testing Of Its Second-Generation Alpha Product, Ready For Nonclinical Testing
Ditch Labs, Inc. completing the successful integration and testing of its second-generation alpha product marks a green status for the upcoming nonclinical testing.
MONTREAL, QC/January, 2022 – Ditch Labs, Inc. completing the successful integration and testing of its second-generation alpha product marks a green status for the upcoming nonclinical testing. The new alpha prototypes led by Co-Founder and CTO Olivier Bourbonnais and Hardware Expert François Bélanger include newer designs optimized for manufacturing along with a more effective mechanism allowing the device to be more accurate.
Ditch Partners Up With The Computer Research Institute of Montréal (CRIM) To Develop Its Treatment Algorithms
The partnership of Ditch Labs, Inc. with the CRIM to develop its treatment algorithms led by Research Director and Partner Christelle Luce, Co-Founder and CTO Olivier Bourbonnais, Software Director Étienne Bélanger and Researcher Gabrielle Toupin, will strengthen the cybersecurity of its solutions.
MONTREAL, QC/December, 2021 – The partnership of Ditch Labs, Inc. with the CRIM to develop its treatment algorithms led by Research Director and Partner Christelle Luce, Co-Founder and CTO Olivier Bourbonnais, Software Director Étienne Bélanger and Researcher Gabrielle Toupin, will strengthen the cybersecurity of its solutions and allow the company to develop algorithms based on the data it collects from the DitchPen™ and from the DitchApp™, among other important aspects.
Ditch Wins The Forces AVENIR Award, Health Category
Ditch Labs, Inc.’s CTO and student of ÉTS, Olivier Bourbonnais, introduced the vision, projects and solutions of Ditch Labs, Inc. to come out victorious of the 2021 Forces AVENIR award of the renowned student engagement contest in the Health category.
MONTREAL, QC/October, 2021 – Ditch Labs, Inc.’s CTO and student of ÉTS, Olivier Bourbonnais, introduced the vision, projects and solutions of Ditch Labs, Inc. to come out victorious of the 2021 Forces AVENIR award of the renowned student engagement contest in the Health category.
Ditch Labs completes successful validation report following the testing of their new alpha prototype
Ditch Labs’ CTO Olivier Bourbonnais and Hardware Expert François Bélanger, Ditch Labs, inc. announces the release of a first successful alpha prototype through a validation report.
MONTREAL, QC/July, 2021 – Following a series of prototype testing designed to assess the accuracy of nicotine dosage delivery by Ditch Labs’ CTO Olivier Bourbonnais and Hardware Expert François Bélanger, Ditch Labs, inc. announces the release of a first successful alpha prototype through a validation report.
Smoking Cessation Startup Ditch Labs Completes $1.3 Million Pre-Seed Round to Solve Nicotine Addiction and Tobacco Use
Ditch Labs, a Montreal-based precision medicine company, is developing a new smoking cessation system and just completed a $ 1.3 million round of funding.
MONTREAL, June 17, 2021 — Ditch Labs, a Montreal-based precision medicine company, is developing a new smoking cessation system and just completed a $1.3 million round of funding.
From left to right: Olivier Bourbonnais (co-founder & CTO), Laurent Laferriere (co-founder & CEO), Christelle Luce, PhD (Partner & Director of Research)
The Montreal-based startup closed a pre-seed round in May 2021 with the participation of Amplify Capital, Desjardins Capital, Boreal Ventures, Anges Québec, Formentera Capital, the Healthcare innovation arm of Symphony Care Network, along with renowned tech entrepreneurs such as Cherif Habib (CEO of Dialogue) and Simon de Beane (CEO of GSoft), among others.
Addressing a huge unmet need
Smoking is still to this day the leading cause of preventable death with 1 out of every 5 deaths directly related to tobacco use. Even though over two thirds of smokers want to quit according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average quit success rate has been hovering around 7% without showing any sign of improvement.
“Part of the problem is that current smoking cessation products seek to treat a very complex addiction with a one-size-fits-all approach. Ditch is the first solution to adapt its treatment in real-time, based on craving intensity and behavioral feedback.”
The Ditch solution
Founded by Laurent Laferrière and Olivier Bourbonnais, two serial entrepreneurs, Ditch Labs offers a revolutionary smoking cessation solution by developing the DitchPen™, a patent-pending medical vaporizer that precisely doses the quantity of nicotine administered, in order to reduce it automatically in a gradual and personalized way. The medical device is paired with a mobile application that uses machine learning algorithms to learn, adapt and act as a behavioural assistant throughout the withdrawal process.
The DitchPen™ and its mobile application.
“The DitchPen™ is the meeting point between artificial intelligence technology and nicotine replacement therapy. Nicotine addiction is an intricate disease linked to psychological, social and biological factors. Each cessation journey is unique and the tools to achieve abstinence must take every factor into account. The use of the Ditch system represents a new paradigm of cessation support based on a dynamic, progressive and personalized program.”
The capital injection will allow the company to pursue preclinical studies, advance its global regulatory plan and further product and algorithm development. The company plans to market a first version of the DitchPen™ in the UK in 2022 and in Canada in 2024, following a rigorous regulatory process to approve the DitchPen™ as an aid to smoking cessation.
“Amplify Capital is excited to partner with Laurent Laferrière, Olivier Bourbonnais and the stellar team at Ditch on its mission to reduce nicotine addiction at scale by providing a device, data, behavioral support and insights to drastically improve smoking cessation rates beyond current methods which haven’t changed in decades. The impact of quitting smoking has benefits to the individual, their families, their workplace, their communities and society that can reduce costs and improve health as a whole.”