Date: 4th December 2020
There are an estimated 54 million people living with dementia around the globe and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type, affecting between 50-75% of those diagnosed. Yesterday, the launch of Neuroglee Therapeutics was announced, a Singapore-based startup company, who are attacking Alzheimer’s Disease through personalised AI-powered digital therapeutics.
To date, there are only five drugs that have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. However, these medications do not treat the underlying causes of the disease or slow its progression, and most only produce mild to moderate effects. Therefore, there is an urgent need for means of preventing, delaying the onset, slowing the progression, and improving the symptoms of AD and adjunctive complementary therapies offer the potential to maximise effectiveness of treatments.
Stepping into the arena is Neuroglee Therapeutics, founded by Aniket Singh Rajput earlier this year, and based in Singapore. The company builds personalised evidence-based prescription digital therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases, and announced the company’s launch with $2.3 million in pre-seed funding.
The pre-seed funding round was led by Eisai Co. Ltd, a leading global pharmaceutical company, whose pipeline includes Alzheimer’s disease drugs and included other leading investors in digital health.
Neuroglee are developing an investigational prescription digital therapeutic (DTx) that can be used independently or in conjunction with a pharmacotherapy for treating neurodegenerative diseases.
In contrast to wellness apps, digital therapeutics are designed to be used under the supervision of a clinician and undergo regulatory review/clearance for treating a specific disease.
Their initial software product, NG-001, is intended for the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. It captures digital biomarkers and learns from user behaviour, using artificial intelligence and machine learning, to provide a more personalised experience, resulting in a best-fit therapy that is tailored to meet patient needs. Patients can access cognitive exercises and tasks through a tablet which is aimed to slow dementia-related cognitive decline.
Neuroglee are due to open their US operations in Boston in the first quarter of 2021, and hope to begin clinical trials early next year. The in-home solution will allow doctors to remotely monitor patient’s cognitive function and intervene using personalised cognitive rehabilitation techniques.
Neuroglee’s NG-001 solution is designed to improve patient outcomes and lower care costs by reducing family caregiver and clinician burden while helping to detect signs of cognitive decline earlier and then offering tailored digital therapeutic therapy aimed at slowing that decline.
This is an exciting development for AI-driven solutions for disease. Just this week we have seen two AI-based applications hit the news; AI predicting cancer killing drug combinations and AI-driven ‘smart’ cell therapy for treating cancer. The addition of solutions for dementia will be a powerful tool for the healthcare industry, and NG-001 is set to benchmark a new era of personalised, high-quality and integrative care for patients.
For more information please see the press release or find Neuroglee Therapeutics on our digital biology company maps
