BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Akili Interactive (“Akili” or “Company"), a leading prescription digital medicine company developing novel treatments for cognitive dysfunction and brain-related conditions, today announced an agreement with the Regents of the University of California to exclusively license new digital technology integrating neural systems that target cognitive function combined with physical activity. The technology is being studied in multiple clinical trials and holds potential to improve cognitive function in patients with a wide range of medical conditions.
The technology was developed at Neuroscape, a research center led by Adam Gazzaley, M.D., Ph.D., at U.C. San Francisco (UCSF), and is delivered through a novel motion-capture video game interface, providing an immersive and engaging experience and the ability to create personalized treatments. The technology is designed to challenge all three core aspects of cognitive control – attention, working memory, and cognitive flexibility – while participants combine cognitive tasks with physical movement.
"The cognitive benefits of physical activity have been understood for many years. The ability to generate those benefits through technology that directly engages brain networks associated with cognitive control is extremely exciting,” said Adam Gazzaley, Founder & Executive Director of Neuroscape and Co-founder and Chief Scientific Advisor at Akili. "I’m eager to see where Akili’s team of researchers and game creators take this important technology."
“This technology represents the type of innovation that excites us at Akili as we look to build our pipeline of novel treatments for cognitive dysfunction,” said Jason Trees, Research and Development Program Lead for Akili. “We’re only just beginning to scratch the surface of the full potential of digital therapeutics, and we are continuously looking for the next great innovation that bridges technology and medicine in ways we can’t even imagine today.”
The newly licensed technology represents the latest in a series of potential new digital medicines Akili is pursuing that directly target and activate specific neural networks in the brain to treat psychological and neurological disorders. Both through strategic licensing and internal discovery efforts, Akili actively seeks out new innovative technologies with the potential to target specific brain networks involved in cognitive function. Akili is currently evaluating several new technologies in numerous clinical studies across multiple different diseases and disorders where cognitive function is affected. These early stage programs will fuel Akili’s broad pipeline of programs aimed at treating cognitive deficiency and improve symptoms associated with medical conditions across neurology and psychiatry, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), major depressive disorder (MDD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and various inflammatory diseases. Akili’s lead pipeline program, AKL-T01, is currently under review with the United States Food and Drug Administration.
This licensing deal was negotiated with UCSF’s Office of Technology Management within Innovation Ventures, which leads licensing and business development efforts on behalf of the university.
About Akili
Akili is a prescription digital medicine company combining scientific and clinical rigor with the ingenuity of the tech industry to reinvent medicine. Akili is pioneering the development of digital treatments with direct therapeutic activity, delivered not through a pill but through a high-quality action video game experience. Akili is advancing a broad pipeline of programs to treat cognitive deficiency and improve symptoms associated with medical conditions across neurology and psychiatry, including ADHD, MDD, ASD and various inflammatory diseases. Akili is also developing complementary and integrated clinical monitors and measurement-based care applications. The Company was founded by PureTech Health (PRTC.L) and is a founding member of the Digital Therapeutics Alliance. For more information on Akili, please visit: www.akiliinteractive.com.
Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains statements that are or may be forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to the company's future prospects, developments and strategies. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from current expectations. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of the company and the environment in which it will operate in the future. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements, neither the company nor any other party intends to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
