WASHINGTON, D.C., July 7th, 2021 — Altoida, Inc. a pioneer in brain health and leader in the digital biomarkers space, today announced new financing from Eisai Innovation, Inc. (EII), a strategic investment subsidiary of Eisai Inc.
Altoida is working internationally to create a new standard in brain health measurement and predictive identification of neurodegenerative conditions, like Alzheimer’s disease, before the onset of symptoms and irreversible brain damage occurs. The new financing will be used to accelerate Altoida’s continued scientific research, product development, and global commercialization.
“We’re thrilled to work together with the Eisai Innovation team, and are honored to have their support as a member of our investor syndicate” said Travis Bond, CEO of Altoida, Inc. “Eisai’s deep expertise and global leadership in dementia-related diseases and neurodegenerative diseases makes them a perfect partner to accelerate Altoida’s ability to develop and deliver high-accuracy predictive brain health diagnostics in a non-invasive, cost-effective, and scalable way.”
Innovation in disease diagnosis is needed to identify patients in need of therapy earlier, and in a more convenient way for both patients and health care providers. While traditional paper-and-pencil tests to assess memory and analyze cognitive impairment (e.g., the Mini-mental State Exam [MMSE] or the Montreal Cognitive Assessment [MOCA]) are a staple of modern practice, they may lack the efficiency, sensitivity, and data analytics infrastructure to be scalable as the 21st century tool for early testing.
Rather than complete a memory test or similar questionnaire, Altoida’s users complete a 10 minute set of digital and augmented reality activities on their smartphone or tablet. While the activities feel like a game, they immerse the brain to assess it in its most realistic, ecologically valid state. From these activities, Altoida collects data from the sensors in the users’ device to analyze over 780 proprietary digital biomarkers and provide an objective measurement of brain function across 11 unique cognitive domains.
With these personalized brain measurements, Altoida is working to use artificial intelligence to predict an individual’s risk of conversion from Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) to Alzhimer’s disease, years in advance of symptoms. This should enable preventative and therapeutic intervention to help delay disease onset and improve patient management and outcomes.
“For three decades, Eisai has delivered hope through innovation by bringing life-changing insights and therapies,” said Kazumasa Nagayama, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Eisai Co., Ltd. “The work Altoida is doing with digital biomarkers may prove to revolutionize how we approach dementias, including Alzheimer’s disease, allowing interventions years ahead of traditional methods. We are excited to support and collaborate with a company that we hope will bring new therapy options to millions of patients and their families.”
Altoida’s technology is an FDA-registered Class II digital medical device to aid in objective cognitive assessment and cognitive function tracking over time.
About Altoida, Inc.
Altoida, Inc is making brain health smart and personal. Our innovative approach combines novel digital biomarkers (dBM) with immersive augmented reality (AR) and powerful artificial intelligence (AI). The result is our validated brain health platform built on more than 20 years of cutting-edge scientific research. Our products are backed by peer-reviewed publications, multinational clinical trials and our expert team of scientists, clinicians and engineers. Altoida, Inc. is funded by M-Ventures, Eisai Innovation, Hikma Ventures, GreySky Venture Partners, FYRFLY, Alpana Ventures and VI Partners. For more on Altoida, please visit www.altoida.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
About Eisai, Inc.
Eisai Co., Ltd. is a leading global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan. Eisai’s corporate philosophy is based on the human health care (hhc) concept, which is to give first thought to patients and their families, and to increase the benefits that health care provides to them. With a global network of R&D facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, we strive to realize our hhc philosophy by delivering innovative products to target diseases with high unmet medical needs, with a particular focus in our strategic areas of Neurology and Oncology.
Leveraging the experience gained from the development and marketing of a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, Eisai aims to establish the “Eisai Dementia Platform.” Through this platform, Eisai plans to deliver novel benefits to those living with dementia and their families through constructing a “Dementia Ecosystem,” by collaborating with partners such as medical organizations, diagnostic development companies, research organizations, and bio-ventures in addition to private insurance agencies, finance industries, fitness clubs, automobile makers, retailers, and care facilities. For more information about Eisai Co., Ltd., please visit https://www.eisai.com.
About Eisai Innovation, Inc.
Eisai Innovation, Inc. (EII) is a subsidiary of Eisai Inc. It is a strategic investment organization aspiring to identify synergies between the scientific community and the Eisai network of companies. EII contributes to our human health care (hhc) mission by prioritizing disease prevention, prediction and treatment through global investments and research collaboration.
Media Contact:
Altoida, Inc.
Henry Peck
henry.peck@altoida.com