Acton, MA-based Cognoptix, developer of an eye test for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease, announced that it has closed a Series D financing round worth more than $15 million. It was led by new investor Alopexx and existing investor Inventages. Original investor Launchpad Venture Group also participated.
The Sapphire II eye test provides early diagnosis of the disease by measuring amyloid β in the eyes. A sign of Alzheimer's, amyloid β develops in the eye in parallel with its appearance in the brain, CEO Paul Hartung said in a company video.
"Inventages continues to be committed to investing in and supporting the development of products, both diagnostics and therapeutics, in the field of dementia. Alzheimer's disease is one of the biggest challenges faced by our healthcare systems today; accordingly we are delighted to continue our support of Cognoptix through the final stage of development of this innovative and game-changing technology," said Dr. Gunnar Weikert, managing director of Inventages, in a statement.
The 5-minute noninvasive procedure involves scanning the eye with a laser to image and detect amyloid β, which gradually form plaques in the brain. Patients must insert an ointment in their eyes the day before the test. In the video, Hartung said a clinical trial, funded by the new capital, will further study the correlation and develop diagnosis guidelines based on the quantity of amyloid β in the eye.
The company says the test is more accurate and cost-effective than positron emission tomography amyloid brain imaging. The CEO envisions offering the test as a point-of-care product via family doctors.
The race is on to diagnose and cure Alzheimer's. Cognoptix said the presence of misdiagnosed patients in Alzheimer's studies could be complicating clinical trials for drugs. Meanwhile Guri Stark, CEO of CorTechs Labs told FierceMedicalDevices in a prior interview that amyloid β is only one of many indicators of the disease, and that not all patients with them have Alzheimer's. His company is commercializing software that diagnoses the disease by measuring the volume of substructures in the brain.
- read the release
- here's the company video
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