April 29, 2024
Geha Mental Health Center of Clalit Health Services and Genetika+ form a partnership to further develop and validate NeuroKaire for depression – a precision medicine tool combining stem-cell technology and AI for optimizing antidepressant choice
TEL AVIV, March 11, 2024
The Research Authority of Geha Mental Health Center, Clalit Health Services, and Genetika+, a pioneer in precision medicine in the fields of psychiatry and neurology, are partnering to advance the development of tools to personalize depression treatment using stem-cell technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics.
The collaboration between Genetika+ and Geha Mental Health Center is focused on the use of advanced artificial intelligence and computer vision methods on derived neurons from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to match the optimal antidepressant treatment for each patient. Overall, the approach integrates, among other data modalities, the biological information derived from blood samples collected from participating depressed patients, genomic information, patient medical history, personal characteristics, medication history, comorbidities, and psychiatric questionnaires.
Depression currently affects an estimated 300 million people worldwide. While a large number of depression medications exist on the market, individual responses vary significantly, and many people do not respond to drugs even after multiple drug switches. Today physicians generally rely on a trial-and-error approach to treat patients, leading to continued suffering and extensive side effects from the various medications.
The data collected through this partnership will be used to refine and validate Neurokaire, a tool developed to help physicians treat patients with depression more effectively based on their individual biological characteristics.
The combined expertise between Genetika+ and Geha Mental Health Center, will support the path to optimize the treatment process so that physicians can treat patients more efficiently and effectively.
“We are facing a surging mental health crisis around the world,” said Prof. Amir Krivoy, Head of the Research Authority of Gaha Mental Health Center, “There is a real need to find new technological and biological tools that will allow us to provide each patient with personalized treatment for mental health challenges while providing more comprehensive bio-psycho-social support and treatment.”
“We are particularly excited about this collaboration and the opportunity to partner with Geha Mental Health Center and leverage Clalit Health Services data to support the optimization of depression treatment,” said Dr. Daphna Laifenfeld, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Genetika+. “The depth and richness of the medical and biological data collected by Clalit Health Services in general and Geha Mental Health Center in particular, are unique assets that will help us bring strong and validated solutions to the clinic, support doctors, and bring relief and quality of life to patients.”
About The Research Authority of Geha Mental Health Center:
The Research Authority of Geha Mental Health Center was founded in 2021 and is headed by Prof. Amir Krivoy, M.D. M.P.H and directed by Tom Fruchtman-Steinbok, Ph.D.. The Research Authority of Geha has unique access to a large database of over 5 million Clalit Health Services members, in addition to several retrospective and prospective clinical trials that are being conducted at the institute. All of the institute’s research is conducted on de-identified data (anonymous without identifying details) and with the approval of the Ethics Committee.
About Genetika+:
Genetika+, founded in 2018 by Talia Cohen-Solal, Ph.D., and Daphna Laifenfeld, Ph.D., is developing precision medicine solutions to optimize treatment for psychiatric and neurological diseases. The company’s Brain-in-a-Dish technology helps physicians find the best treatment for their patients. For more details, visit https://www.genetikaplus.com/