MONTREAL, Jan. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Innodem Neurosciences, a Montreal-based company, has closed a Series A financing round led by Morningside Ventures to support the development and commercialization of its proprietary, patented, digital biomarking technology of neurodegenerative diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and related disorders, Frontotemporal Dementia and related disorders and Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment ("chemo brain").
Innodem's mobile software technology is embodied in an application that turns a tablet or a smartphone into a device capable of capturing Eye Movement Biomarkers (EMBs) and Gaze Mapping Biomarkers (GMBs) accurately within minutes in order to assist a clinician's diagnosis. Current and future clinical validation trials will provide EMB & GMB data to Innodem's fully integrated HIPAA/PIPEDA compliant data management pipeline leveraging the latest deep learning technology.
"Morningside is the ideal investor to help us transition our novel technology into a future industry standard. This technology will be highly accessible and improve the quality of care and patient outcomes, with unseen levels of user-friendliness and cost-effectiveness for the global health system" added Innodem's co-founder & Chief Business Officer, Marc Reeves.
After a successful Seed round in 2019 and the launch of PigioTM – Innodem's Proof of Concept technology & iPad App – the company obtained a USPTO patent and was able to increase the precision of its eye tracking technology to a level comparable or better than existing and costly infrared hardware solutions. Using deep learning on the anonymous data emanating from thousands of PigioTM users, Innodem was able to refine its original algorithm and pivot towards the development of unique digital EMB & GMB technology used by pharmaceutical companies to improve clinical trial management. The innovative technology is also patent pending in Europe, Japan and China.
"Emerging digital biomarking technologies are redefining the global, multi-billion dollars, diagnostic imaging market and our investment in Innodem is in line with our overall portfolio strategy" added Gerald Chan, Chairman & CEO of Morningside Group.
"The interesting thing with mobile artificial intelligence applications is that the more data we obtain, the more accurate our algorithms become at detecting and tracking the presence and progression of these various devastating neurological conditions. This has truly been a collaborative effort with my colleagues at the Montreal NEURO and McGill, since access to well-phenotyped patients is crucial for the training and refinement of our technology. Digital EMB & GMB tests are non-invasive and can be completed in minutes by the patient from the comfort of their own home. Remote self-testing is a major advantage, even more so during a global pandemic" added Dr. de Villers-Sidani, cognitive neurologist, main founder, Chief Executive Officer & Chief Scientific Officer of Innodem.
Over the course of Innodem's ongoing trial at the Montreal NEURO involving patients suffering from MS, bi-weekly self-testing results will assist healthcare professionals in detecting subtle changes that may not show up using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), despite these changes being indicative of disease progression and the onset of more pronounced symptoms. Innodem management is hopeful that the multi-year trial will demonstrate that novel digital EMBs & GMBs can measure these changes accurately and cost-effectively while improving quality of care and patient outcomes.
"A clinician whose patient is transitioning to the progressive form of MS may recommend a better adapted treatment which could, if detected early, prevent this individual from developing severe neurological impairments. No practical tools currently exist to detect such a transition to progressive MS and I believe EMBs & GMBs can fill that important gap", added Dr. Etienne de Villers-Sidani.
About INNODEM NEUROSCIENCES
Founded in 2016, Innodem Neurosciences has developed patented mobile digital biomarking technology of neurodegenerative diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and related disorders, Frontotemporal Dementia and related disorders and Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment ("chemo brain"). This novel eye-tracking and cognition testing technology is embodied in a HIPAA/PIPEDA compliant system consisting of an intuitive tablet application (smartphone coming soon) connected to a cloud-based AI infrastructure. The app is made up of a series of tasks that are completed in minutes, where a user's eye movement is recorded in data sets called Eye Movement Biomarkers (EMBs) and Gaze Mapping Biomarkers (GMBs). Innodem's core team, led by cognitive neurologist & CEO Dr. Étienne de Villers-Sidani, is composed of an intersectional group of neuroscientists, software engineers, data scientists, healthcare professionals and serial entrepreneurs. The company's mission is to provide easier ways to do remote testing for all stages of neurodegenerative diseases and cancer-related cognitive impairment to improve quality of care and patient outcomes, at unseen levels of user-friendliness and cost-effectiveness for the global health system.
About MORNINGSIDE GROUP
Morningside Group was founded in 1986, by the Chan family of Hong Kong, to make private equity and venture capital investments. The group is managed by investment professionals who are entrepreneurial, have deep industry knowledge and are effective in the local environment in which they operate. In addition to its investment activities, Morningside Group is strongly committed to social responsibility. To learn more, visit www.morningside.com.
Contact: Valérie Gonzalo, 514.923.1549, valerie@agocom.ca
