NeuroVigil, the company that developed iBrain, the world’s first portable brain scanner, has now partnered with a large pharmaceutical company which plans to deploy the iBrain technology in its pharmaceutical research. The iBrain allows for accurate recordings of single-channel EEG over extended periods from individuals with or without pathologies or treatment. NeuroVigil has a growing database and a suite of proprietary algorithms to extract biomarkers from these signals. NeuroVigil always retains exclusive ownership of these disease and drug biomarkers and will own any biomarkers discovered by the pharma firm, according to a release not mentioning but presumably Novartis, in the context of this research. The neurotechnology system can help identify the presence of side effects caused by psychiatric drugs after comparing recording, including home based recordings, taken prior to and after consuming a medication. NeuroVigil has also partnered with the University of Basel to help further advance research into Rett Syndrome, a devastating neurological disease that affects mostly girls.

This is the second time NeuroVigil partners with Basel area clients, as they signed a deal with Roche for outpatient clinical trials in 2009. They also have a clinical trial on ALS in Philadelphia, and have been working on a computational cure to Locked-In Syndrome since 2011, at the request of Stephen Hawking who advises NeuroVigil. According to anonymous sources from a company working with NeuroVigil, NeuroVigil may imminently announce a collaboration to help monitor sleep in the elderly population.

source:NeuroVigil