Finnish biotech Herantis Pharma is teaming up with Swiss medtech Indivi to help seek early detection of Parkinson’s disease (PD) in a new proof-of-concept clinical trial.
The collab, financial details of which were not shared, will wed Indivi’s digital biomarker platform into Herantis’ upcoming phase 2 trial of HER-096 in PD patients.
Indivi’s tech is “designed to enable earlier and more sensitive detection of treatment-related changes,” according to a May 19 release. This could also help slash study times and allow for smaller patient cohorts, and thus potentially cheaper testing.
The company’s platform works by using digital biomarkers from smartphone-based assessments of motor and cognitive function.
This in turn allows for “sensitive high-frequency multi-domain disease phenotyping,” the company said in a statement, “that may support earlier detection of treatment-related changes compared to conventional clinical assessments.”
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Under the collaboration, Herantis will use Indivi’s platform alongside conventional clinical assessments in its upcoming midstage trial, with the aim of detecting early changes in motor and cognitive function following treatment.
HER-096 showed some early, promising phase 1 trial results last year. The company says the mechanism of action of its drug, which can pass the blood-brain barrier, has the potential for slowing down or stopping the disease process, and not just treating symptoms.
“Digital biomarkers have the potential to significantly improve the sensitivity and efficiency of clinical development in Parkinson’s disease,” said Antti Vuolanto, CEO of Herantis Pharma, in a release.
Shibeshih Mitiku Belachew, Chief Medical Officer of Indivi, added: “We believe our digital biomarker platform is particularly well suited to capturing early symptomatic signals and treatment-related changes with greater sensitivity and precision than conventional assessments.”
