Startup Targets TBI

Adrian Harel, CEO of Medicortex Finland, has launched a funding round aiming to   identify a new TBI biomarker and develop a diagnostic test for the evaluation of its presence and severity. The other mission is to develop a drug that would limit the long-term effects of TBI.</p> The people most likely to suffer from TBI include soldiers, athletes and sports professionals. Certainly, the world remembers Michael Schumacher, race car driver and Formula One winner, who suffered a ski accident and fought a serious TBI. No matter how much attention these stories receive, the real story of sports-related TBI lies in the sheer magnitude of the problem.</p> Numerous studies show that even one mild TBI, also called concussion, can lead to long-term neurodegeneration, which can manifest as sleep disturbance, problems with concentration, nausea, and seizures. When left untreated, these symptoms can develop into more severe neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s diseases. As a result of repeated head trauma, many football players, boxers, and ice hockey players suffer from impaired memory and early-onset dementia.</p> The insidious and devastating consequences of TBI result from the cascade of physiological events that follow the trauma. The damage expands and permanent neurodegeneration takes place if TBI is left untreated. Unfortunately, no drug or proper diagnostic test exist for TBI sufferers.</p> Medicortex is working towards the identification of a TBI biomarker and incorporating it into a quick and reliable diagnostic kit that can be easily used by the first responders and healthcare professionals, but also by people with no medical profession. The ideal kit will not only diagnose the presence of TBI, but it will also quantify the severity of injury so that the recovery can be monitored. In the future, the kit will advance the TBI drug development that will alleviate or even arrest the long-term neurodegeneration after TBI. Medicortex, currently in the human proof-of-concept stage, is seeking investments to support the fast evaluation of a TBI biomarker from human samples.</p> About Medicortex Medicortex Finland Oy is a start-up biotechnology company dedicated to developing diagnostics and treatments for TBI. One of the company’s missions is to identify a new biomarker in order to reliably assess the severity and extent of TBI. Medicortex operates as a privately owned company, it was founded by Dr. Adrian Harel in Turku, Finland, in 2014. Dr. Harel has a track record in the business management and leadership of early-stage drug discovery companies.