The Most Innovative Neurology Startups in Biotech: Meet the Game-Changers Who are Reshaping the Future of Brain Research

Inside a state-of-the-art medical laboratory, a male scientist intently types on his keyboard while focused on his work.

Advancements in neuroscience research and technology are paving the way for groundbreaking developments in the field of neurology. At the 2022 Precision Neuroscience Summit, scientists and industry experts predicted a wave of system-level innovation in neurology by 2030, driving accelerated research and development (R&D) in precision neuroscience. This article highlights five innovative neurology startups in biotech that are reshaping the future of brain and central nervous system (CNS) research and pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

The Top 5 Innovative Neurology Startups in Biotech in 2023

These neurology startups represent the cutting edge of innovation in neurology and CNS research and offer promising solutions for improved diagnostics, treatment, and patient care. As the field continues to evolve, their contributions may play a crucial role in shaping the future of neurology.

*The list of neurology startups in biotech is in no particular order, i.e. the order of the biotech companies is not relevant.

1. Beacon Biosignals

Founded in 2019, Beacon Biosignals is a venture-backed computational diagnostic startup focused on developing precision medicines for patients with neurological and psychiatric diseases. Using novel insights from electroencephalogram (EEG) data, Beacon Biosignals’ machine learning (ML) augmented EEG neurobiomarker platform aims to create impact through research and discovery, clinical trial optimization, and commercial differentiation. Beacon Biosignals contributes to translational research by analyzing existing EEG for insights into the mechanism, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD), and patient stratification. Enhanced cohort selection and proactive in-trial monitoring enable clinical trial optimization and risk mitigation. To support commercial differentiation by responding to the needs of patients and clinicians, Beacon Biosignals offers best-in-class safety profiles and at-home monitoring.

Leveraging ML algorithms, large clinical datasets, and advances in software engineering, Beacon Biosignals creates tools that enable efficacy monitoring which involves the quantitative assessment of treatment impact on EEG and event-related potential (ERP) data; and patient stratification, which identifies optimal patient populations to maximize effective interventions. An example of Beacon Biosignals’ work is the application of ML to analyze epileptiform burden and sleep endpoints derived from EEG recordings. These insights allow Beacon Biosignals to stratify patients and develop more targeted and effective treatment plans.

Beacon Biosignals CEO and co-founder Jacob Donoghue believes, “Our tools help enable a paradigm shift toward earlier diagnoses and precision treatments for each patient with neurological and psychiatric disease.

2. Bionaut Labs

Bionaut Labs, a biotech startup co-founded by two robotics entrepreneurs, announced its $43.5 million Series B funding in late 2022, reaching a total of $63.2 million raised. The company is pioneering precision micro-technology with tiny remote-controlled medical robots (Bionauts™) that provide safe and precise therapeutic access to the brain and hard-to-reach locations in the body. The application of Bionauts can potentially transform drug development. Pre-clinical studies will occur in 2023, followed by clinical trials in 2024. Bionauts access the midbrain through novel routes and perform localized treatment, detection, and precise medical procedures. Delivering modality-agnostic diverse payloads locally can prevent side effects and toxicity from systematically delivered drugs. Bionaut Labs aims to develop therapies for the most debilitating conditions, including Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease, malignant glioma, and hydrocephalus.

3. Koneksa Health

Koneksa Health is a healthcare tech company pioneering evidence-based digital biomarkers as measurable endpoints for neuropsychiatric clinical research. Koneksa aims to improve treatment effect detection and patient outcomes by accelerating R&D and guiding decision-making in drug development without compromising quality. Recognizing that the challenges in developing neuroscience treatments include timely access to reliable data and that current measurement options have their limitations, Koneksa uses advanced digital tools and cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) platform to provide sensitive early insights to sponsors. Koneksa provides a platform designed to incorporate data from multiple devices and monitor multiple symptoms while using robust verification and clinical validation to ensure their solutions work as intended. Koneksa works in different neuroscience therapeutic areas, including Parkinson’s disease (for which Koneksa has received research grants from The Michael J. Fox Foundation), multiple sclerosis (MS), and disturbed sleep. For MS, Koneksa works with Sanofi on a multi-study partnership.

“Digital biomarkers are revolutionizing clinical research and the practice of medicine, every bit as impactful as pharmacogenetics or circulating cell-free tumor DNA biomarkers,’ says Dr. John Wagner, Chief Medical Officer at Koneksa Health.

4. Neumora Therapeutics, Inc.

Neumora is a clinical-stage biotech startup pioneering precision medicines for brain diseases by integrating data science and translational neuroscience. Articulating the challenge of today as a “one-size-fits-all” treatment approach for neuropsychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases, Neumora aims to redefine how neurological conditions are treated. The company uses patient enrichment strategies to improve drug development success rates. Neumora developed a proprietary data-driven precision neuroscience platform to address brain disease heterogeneity while matching the right patient population to the right targeted therapeutics. In doing so, Neumora aims to drive innovation and develop effective drugs for patients.

With the recent announcement of $112 million Series B financing in October 2022 (for a total of $650 million raised to date), Neumora continues to develop a broad and growing pipeline of clinically validated and novel approaches for underserved neuropsychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.

5. NeuraLight

With the revelation that neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and MS lack objective clinical evaluations, NeuraLight set out to make a difference by extracting micro-oculometric measures (eye movements) and using artificial intelligence (AI) to provide objective and sensitive digital markers for neurological disorders. The NeuraLight platform uses proprietary deep learning and computer vision algorithms to extract and combine oculometric measures from standard webcam or smartphone videos to enable early diagnosis and intervention, sensitive disease progression monitoring, and precision care. An objective test may also accelerate and improve the drug development process, e.g., enabling a more accurate patient selection and stratification.

NeuraLight envisions (pun intended) playing a role in tracking neurological conditions, which is a challenging task. Patients would currently be required to make in-person visits which may be particularly taxing for patients with a neurological disorder. With NeuraLight, however, patients could conceivably get a complete neurological evaluation regularly with a home webcam. The company has begun tests with healthy volunteers in a control group.

In March 2023, NeuraLight won the 2023 SXSW Innovation in the “Health and MedTech” category. “The potential to accurately and sensitively track disease progression and support early diagnosis holds significant promise for transforming the development of drugs for neurodegenerative conditions,” said NeuraLight Chief Innovation Officer Rivka Kreitman, Ph.D. The company has raised over $30.5 million.

Vial Neurology CRO – Advancing Neurology Research

In the fast-paced and rapidly evolving field of neurology, The Vial Neurology CRO stands as a specialized and dedicated contract research organization that is committed to advancing neurology research. With a team of scientific advisors providing strategic guidance, The Vial Neurology CRO has built the necessary infrastructure to support and drive innovation in the field.

By partnering with Vial, biotech companies gain access to a wealth of expertise and resources tailored to their unique needs. Vial CRO’s mission is to empower scientists to discover groundbreaking scientific therapeutics that help people live happier, healthier lives. Vial’s modern, intuitive technology platform integrates trial onboarding, patient enrollment, site communication, and data collection processes into one connected system, allowing for faster, more efficient clinical trials. Furthermore, Vial offers biotech companies a fixed-fee pricing model, which delivers dramatically lower costs for biotechs with tight budgets.

Learn more about the Vial CRO and Vial Neurology CRO.

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