ElMindA, Purdue Pharma to collaborate on brain imaging

ElMindA's neural network mapping technology examines the links between neurons in different parts of the brain.

ElMindA Ltd., which has developed an imaging system of neural network activity in the brain has signed a strategic, multi-year research collaboration agreement with pain management drug developer Purdue Pharma LP. Purdue Pharma will use ElMindA's imaging technology to gather data on changes in brain function during clinical trials of new pain medications. The two companies will develop an objective measurement of pain.

The companies did not disclose the financial details of the agreement, but ElMindA's revenue from the collaboration is estimated at several million dollars. ElMindA CEO Ronen Gadot told "Globes" that the company has similar agreements with leading pharmaceutical companies.

Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sackler family and based in Stamford Connecticut, produces Oxycontin and OxyCodone.

ElMindA, founded in 2006 by CTO Prof. Amir Geva and Dr. Goded Shahaf and based in Herzliya, is a promising company that operates without fanfare. Sources inform ''Globes'' that it raised $10 million last year, and $15 million altogether. Gadot says that the company has strategic investors from pharmaceutical companies, and private investors Sammy Sagol, and Robert Kraft (the owner of the New England Patriots), who is interested in treatments for head injuries suffered by athletes.

ElMindA's technology examines the links between neurons in different parts of the brain. Other companies' systems focus on groups of neurons in a single area of the brain.

Gadot said, "For six years, we mapped neural networks in the healthy brain, diseased brain, and injured brain, and the effect of therapeutics. This is an area where three big fields overlap: neurological disorders; psychiatric disorders; and pain. We have a method for monitoring differences between healthy and unhealthy brains."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 30, 2013

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013

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