neotiv secures seed funding from High-Tech Gründerfonds
From basic research straight to a digital medical product: this vision has been turned into reality by neotiv. The team headed by Chief Executive Officer Dr. Chris Rehse and dementia researcher Prof. Emrah Düzel develops user-friendly apps that are able to measure the psychological effects of Alzheimer’s disease in its early stage. The Magdeburg-based start-up is thus bringing the latest findings in the field of neurodegenerative disease research to mobile apps for private users, doctors and drug development.
The technology is based on memory tests that have been specially developed for this purpose in comprehensive scientific studies at national and international levels. The scores obtained in these tests indicate whether specific brain regions are functionally compromised. neotiv not only delivers a snapshot of a patient’s mental capacity, but also enables a long-term, high-frequency monitoring of memory. This type of monitoring enables a dynamic tailoring of possible preventative and therapeutic measures.
In doing so, neotiv is overcoming a major obstacle between high-tech research and widespread translation. Doctors and scientists have for years been able to visualize the onset and spread of Alzheimer’s disease with the aid of special imaging procedures. However, these imaging procedures are complex and expensive, and are available to specialised institutions only. The same limitations apply to diagnostic procedures based on cerebral spinal fluid taps. The team led by neotiv has been able to demonstrate that their newly developed memory tests are able to capture the imaging and CSF-based biomarker changes of Alzheimer’s disease. These tests form the basis of the neotiv app.
By introducing these tests into a mobile app, neotiv aims to ensure that users are easily able to track the development of the disease, even in its earliest stage. This is a basic prerequisite for tackling a range of problems linked to the early diagnosis and, above all, the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. The app will help health-conscious individuals to optimise changes to their lifestyle in a preventative manner so as to reduce dementia-related risks in a targeted way. It will also enable doctors to detect changes brought on by Alzheimer’s and to monitor the course of treatment. Drug developers can also use the app to make a more efficient pre-selection of trial candidates according to the early stages of the disease. The app also provides them with improved and high frequency monitoring of treatment effects.
“With neotiv, our aim is to provide a comprehensive support tool for treating memory and dementia-related disorders. We therefore expect to become the key to more individualised, non-pharmaceutical – but also pharmaceutical – treatments in the future,” says co-founder Prof. Emrah Düzel. Dr. Chris Rehse adds: “neotiv is seeking to make a lasting contribution to people’s health by also working closely with important institutions within the healthcare system, such as the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM). Furthermore, we are looking to remain firmly rooted in the field of memory research and make the findings accessible to the wider public.”
neotiv is being supported in the launch of the product on the growing e-health market by the Flying Health Incubator in Berlin. Research work is also being monitored and supported through the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy’s (BMWi) EXIST Transfer of Research programme.
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