C8 Sciences’ Digital Neurotherapy: A class of CNS therapy for treatment and diagnosis with a focus on depression
If 10 people take antidepressant drugs, only 5 will feel better and in 4 it will be a placebo response. Of candidate CNS drugs developed at >$500M each, 93% fail clinical trials. These figures have two primary causes: 1) drugs address single cell function and often cannot alone fix the neurosystem dysfunctions that cause clinical disease; 2) symptom-based diagnosis does not align with underlying neuropathology, confounding new treatment development and making treatment “trial-and-error.” We address both problems with industry-leading digital neurotherapy (DNT); technology-enhanced neuroscience developed in Wexler’s lab with support of an NIH Director’s award for “high innovation, high impact, paradigm-changing research”. Three published studies show that C8’s DNT dramatically reduces depressed mood, improves cognition and normalizes brain connectivity deficits on fMRI in depressed patients who failed to respond to medication. Efficacy is 1.5-2x that of drugs, CBT and TMS; without side effects and at lower cost. At the same time, machine learning translates 10’s of 1000’s of responses to training trials/patient into proprietary biomarkers that shape the DNT to each user and identify patient subgroups based on differences in underlying neuropathology. C8’s DNT is currently in market, and Blavatnik-supported preparation for an FDA pre-submission meeting and pilot studies treating depression in cancer and dialysis patients are underway. Depression treatment is a multi-billion-dollar market. Our business model is to translate neuroscience into potent digital interventions tailored to specific neuropathologies and their associated cognitive deficits and mood dysregulations, and then out-license them for fuller commercial development, FDA trials, marketing and sales. This includes primary depression, depression in chronic medical diseases where it compromises quality and duration of life, and, eventually, primary disorders of cognition like MCI and AD. Potential licensees include pharma, insurance and health provider companies. Our modular platform technology and IP enable rapid customization of products for different markets.