MONTREAL, Jan. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Optina, an innovative diagnostics company, leader in retinal imaging, brain health and systemic disease detection, announces the closing of an up to US$2.1M investment from the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF). The investment will be made through the ADDF's Diagnostics Accelerator, a collaborative research initiative supported by ADDF's Co-Founder Leonard A. Lauder, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, the Dolby family, and the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, among others, to advance the most promising early diagnostics for Alzheimer's disease. This funding comes on the tail of closing an oversubscribed Series-A round led by DigitalDx Ventures including Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Desjardins, Zoic Capital as well as other investors.
Optina's Retinal Deep PhenotypingTM platform obtained the FDA Breakthrough Device Designation status in 2019 for its first indication, a non-invasive and more accessible test to improve diagnosis accuracy and the management of patients undergoing evaluation for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and received 501(k) clearance for its hyper-spectral Optina-4CTM camera in 2020.
The primary focus of the investment from the ADDF's Diagnostics Accelerator is to support the pivotal study for Optina's awAIr TM cerebral amyloid status test when AD is suspected. These funds will also be used to accelerate the deployment of additional clinical study sites with the installation of Optina's Retinal Deep PhenotypingTM platform at further leading institutions.
It is now broadly acknowledged that one key step to improving brain health in the overall medical field lies in a readily accessible, non-invasive, precise, and objective diagnostic test for patients suffering from and/or at risk of cognitive decline. Thus, targeted intervention can take place as early as possible, ideally prior to brain damage/memory loss, and potentially alter the course of the disease. Alzheimer's detection, and targeted differentiation from other illnesses associated with memory loss, is one part of Optina's broader brain health platform unlocking the secrets of multiple systemic diseases.
"The ADDF created the Diagnostics Accelerator to support research into promising biomarkers that will play a crucial role in research, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. A simple eye scan, such as the technology developed by Optina, has the potential to help with early, non-invasive detection of Alzheimer's, which is essential to getting the right patients into trials and moving research forward," said Howard Fillit, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of the ADDF.
"Optina is proud to have been chosen for the ADDF's Diagnostics Accelerator initiative. We are confident that we can have an impact and change the lives of millions of patients in the future. We are already putting this investment to work with the start of our pivotal study, thanks to all of the participants, their families and experts around the world supporting our novel approach to on-site/same-day results using noninvasive digital data capture (1-second eye scan) which greatly simplifies both the diagnostic process and the patient's journey," added David Lapointe, CEO of Optina Diagnostics
About Optina Diagnostics
Optina aims to Transform the diagnostic world by seeing the unseen
Optina harnesses the power of innovative retinal imaging and AI, in the form of a 1-second eye scan, to provide accessible, non-invasive diagnostic test results for silent and under-detected diseases, empowering healthcare providers and patients to act on timely and meaningful information. www.OptinaDx.com.
About the Diagnostics Accelerator
The Diagnostics Accelerator, created in July 2018, is a partnership of funders with funding commitments totaling nearly $50 million over three years from partners including ADDF's Co-Founder Leonard A. Lauder, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott, the Dolby family, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, among others, to develop novel biomarkers for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
This research initiative is dedicated to accelerating the development of affordable and accessible biomarkers to diagnose Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and advance the clinical development of more targeted treatments. Through translational research awards and access to consulting support from industry experts, this program will challenge, assist and fund the research community in both academia and industry to develop novel peripheral and digital biomarkers.
CONTACT: Marie-Claude Marchand, mcmarchand@optinadx.com
