Genetika+ Wins Prestigious European Funding to Bring Depression Drug Matching Platform to Market

Genetika+, a company developing personalized medicine solutions to optimize treatment for psychiatric and neurological diseases, announced today an award of up to ?17.5 million of grant funding combined with equity investment to bring NeuroKaire to market. This represents the maximum possible grant from the European Commission and will be used for the company's precision medicine tool for optimizing drug choice to treat major depressive disorder (MDD). The award was granted through the European Commission's European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator for Europe's high potential start-ups. Genetika+'s proposal was selected from over 1000 start-ups and SMEs.

"We are excited by this important vote of confidence from the European Commission's Innovation Council," said Talia Cohen Solal, co-founder and CEO of Genetika+. "This funding is a validation of our work to date and will accelerate our bringing this much needed tool to market, enabling providers to effectively match the right therapy to their patient's unique needs."

MDD affects 300 million people globally and can reduce an individual's lifespan by as much as 14 years. A physician must choose from over 70 different medications and combinations when selecting a drug for a patient with MDD. Each drug takes 4 - 6 weeks to test, causing the patient to lose months to years of their lives to disability and suffering, including risk of suicide during the process of searching for the right treatment. Up to 63% of people suffering from depression do not receive adequate treatment due to the heterogeneity of the disease, uniquely affecting each individual. Response to treatment varies significantly. This trial-and-error process impacts patients' lives, physicians time and payers and governments budgets. Precision mental health treatment is urgently needed.

The EIC funding will go toward further clinical validation of the platform, with several clinical studies underway and additional ones planned. It will also support platform scale-up to enable large scale clinical use.

About Genetika+
Genetika+, founded in 2018 by Talia Cohen-Solal, Ph.D., and Daphna Laifenfeld, Ph.D., is developing personalized medicine solutions to optimize treatment for psychiatric and neurological diseases. The company's Brain-in-a-Dish technology helps physicians find the best treatment for their patients. In its first indication, depression, Genetika+ uses patented technology to rapidly test more than 70 approved antidepressants and drug combinations against an individual patient's unique neurological biomarkers. Combined with patients' genetic and medical history, Genetika+ can predict the optimal drug or combination therapy for each patient. This opens the door to faster treatment, fewer side effects, and lower dosing, and the elimination of arduous trial-and-error treatment protocols and needless loss of life. To learn more, follow us on LinkedIn or on Twitter @Genetikaplus.