Newly-filed patent will enable platform technology to be licensed for much-needed biomarker assessment in pharmaceutical and healthcare industries
VANCOUVER, BC, June 8, 2021 /CNW/ – Cognetivity Neurosciences Ltd. (the “Company” or “Cognetivity”) (CSE: CGN) (OTCQB: CGNSF) (FWB: 1UB) today announced that it has filed a key new patent covering the use of an AI-based system to estimate levels of core biomarkers of neurodegeneration in the brain.
Biomarkers such as amyloid β (Aβ), tau and neurofilament light (NfL) play a vital role in informing the diagnosis and clinical management of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Assessing patients’ Aβ, tau and NfL levels requires positron emission tomography (PET) or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampling. However, these methods are time-consuming, expensive and invasive, and lack scalability, making them highly unsuitable for large-scale use.
Because of this, the healthcare system often fails to provide patients with the timely identification and diagnosis of their conditions that are associated with improved outcomes. This is particularly significant in light of the growing prospect of specific disease-modifying therapies, such as the Aβ-targeting drug aducanumab, which has just received FDA approval. Recent analysis has found that a lack of specialists and diagnostic capacity in the US may pose a severe obstacle to the rollout of the potentially game-changing drug, regulatory approval aside.
The development of an easy to use, non-invasive device capable of estimating fluid biomarker levels – as covered by Cognetivity’s newly-filed patent – thus meets the clear need for an easily-accessible, scalable and cost-effective tool to streamline the process of identifying individuals eligible for specific treatments. Such a device would enable the screening of a wide population of at-risk individuals and the identification of those for whom additional testing would be beneficial. It could further be used to monitor disease progression and treatment efficacy, both in clinical care and the earlier process of drug development.
The scale of the potential market looks vast. In 2017, it was estimated that 88 million Americans aged 55 and older were eligible for initial screening for a drug, such as aducanumab, that targets patients with early-stage cognitive decline. With tens of millions of Americans likely to get stuck at this major bottleneck, there is a pressing need for technology such as Cognetivity’s that can be rolled out rapidly and accurately identify potential patients on a large scale.
According to a special report by the Alzheimer’s Association, which did not factor in the huge potential benefits of new therapies, $7 trillion in medical and care costs could be saved through the early and accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s for all individuals alive in the US as of 2018. Meanwhile, drug discovery and development efforts remain intensive, with 126 agents in the global Alzheimer’s pipeline in 2021.
“This will be a vitally important addition to our IP portfolio, and, as the first of its kind for a digital assessment, this demonstrates that Cognetivity is leading the way in developing sophisticated tools that can dramatically improve the patient identification and diagnosis pathway.” said Dr Sina Habibi, Cognetivity’s CEO. “This paves the way for the fast, timely, disease-specific classification of neurological disorders that is going to be absolutely necessary to deploy on a large scale if we are to combat the dementia crisis.”
“As the evidence shows, the existing pathway for diagnosing neurodegenerative diseases is simply not fit for purpose,” he continued. “Through our Integrated Cognitive Assessment platform, we have the capability to quickly reach the huge numbers of people in need of screening, particularly now that a new disease-modifying drug has been approved, and help ensure that the right people are identified and treated as soon as possible.”
About Cognetivity Neurosciences Ltd.
Cognetivity is a technology company that has created a cognitive testing platform for use in medical, commercial and consumer environments. Cognetivity’s ICA uses Artificial Intelligence and machine learning techniques to help detect the earliest signs of impairment by testing the performance of large areas of the brain to support diagnosis of dementia. It has achieved regulatory approval for clinical use in the UK and Europe with future clinical approval anticipated in North America and elsewhere in the world.
For more information, please visit: www.cognetivity.com or contact: [email protected]
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“Sina Habibi”
Sina Habibi
Chief Executive Officer and Director
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SOURCE Cognetivity Neurosciences Ltd
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