MindMaze, which takes a primarily software-based, gamified approach to treat neurological disease and injury, announced Thursday that it has hauled in $105 million in new funding.
The financing round was led by healthcare private equity firm Concord Health Partners. Previous investors — AlbaCore Capital Group and Hambro Perks — also chipped in. The latest funding follows a $125 million raise the company announced in October.
MindMaze, which has offices in Lausanne, Switzerland, London and Baltimore, plans to use the funding to support key company priorities. Those include product development, clinical evidence generation, commercial growth and strategic device and product partnerships, said Tej Tadi, the company’s founder and CEO, in an email provided by a representative.
“The primary focus will be to consolidate and build on the clinical and commercial pipeline globally,” Tadi said.
He noted that the company is currently targeting eight indications: stroke, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s diseases and mild cognitive impairment, spinal cord injury, autism, pain and aging/frailty.
Increasingly, video games are being used as treatment for a range of applications in health. For instance, Akili Interactive and brainboost take a gamified approach to treating cognitive deficits and neurologic disorders. Others have studied the potential for virtual reality to reduce pain in hospitalized patients, underscoring the promise of digital therapeutics in clinical applications.
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A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
It’s MindMaze’s leveraging of digital therapeutics that drew investment and praise from Concord Health Partners.
“MindMaze has developed the leading technology and approach to digital therapeutics for neuro-rehabilitation and restoration, providing clear benefits to patients, providers and payers,” said James Olsen, founder and managing partner at Concord, in a statement. “We believe this notable advancement in treatment and therapy will meaningfully improve brain health and recovery for a wide range of conditions.”
Concord as a fund brings strategic value and relationships for its portfolio investments — and the American Hospital Association is one its partners, Tadi said. So as a result of Concord’s investment, MindMaze will be initiating a partnership with the AHA and get access to its provider and payer networks.
Combined with expanded market access, Tadi believes that the company’s gamified approach and the ability to personalize the treatment based on individual needs and neurological deficits will help the company achieve it’s long-term goals. That includes an aim of impacting the quality of life of millions of patients, families and caregivers.
“So they can continuously be engaged and train while monitoring their performance,” Tadi said. “This increases intensity and dosage while doing wonders for motivation.” The interactive content is designed to repair the brain and maintain gains; and he said it represents a significant change in care delivery and disease management.
Photo credit: DrAfter123, Getty Images
