Keeping you up to date on recent developments in neurology, including: Software developed to objectively calculate white matter hyperintensities; CSF biomarkers point to underlying cause of neural damage in COVID-19; Scientists discover how cryptochrome mutation leads to sleep disorder; Physical labor significantly increases the risk of dementia.
LONDON – Cognetivity Neurosciences Ltd. has received CE software as a medical device approval for its cognitive assessment tool, a five-minute test intended as a diagnostic aid to identifying the earliest stages of dementia.
Arkuda Therapeutics, a new company targeting progranulin and lysosomal biology to treat neurodegenerative diseases, has completed a $44 million series A financing led by Atlas Venture, its co-creator, and Pfizer Ventures. Funds managed by Tekla Capital Management LLC and Bioinnovation Capital also participated.
Houston-based startup Braincheck Inc. scooped up $8 million in series A funding in a round led by S3 Ventures and Tensility Venture Partners, along with True Wealth Ventures and Nueterra Capital. Braincheck launched its digital cognitive assessment tool in 2015 and a cognitive care planning solution in 2018, and now the company is looking to broaden its footprint with physician practices, hospitals and health systems. Proceeds from the financing will help to build the company's sales and marketing and clinical development teams in Houston, as well as production development staff in Austin.
Screening for early signs of cognitive impairment and dementia amongst the elderly is a task that's often unevenly attended to by primary care physicians. But the routine personal consumer devices that we use every day might offer a clearer and more consistent window into early declines in cognitive and memory function, according to data from a feasibility study that were reported this week at the Association for Computing Machinery's Knowledge, Discovery and Data Mining conference in Anchorage, Alaska.
