Akili Interactive Labs raises $160M in equity and debt to transform cognitive healthcare via prescription videogame treatments

Akili rais­es $110m to build its dig­i­tal ther­a­peu­tics pipeline (phar­mafo­rum): Endeav­or­Rx became the first and so far only approved pre­scrip­tion video game treat­ment in the US when it was cleared by the FDA last year to treat atten­­tion-deficit hyper­ac­tiv­i­ty dis­or­der (ADHD), and has also been giv­en a green light in Europe.

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Latest brain research, tools and teasers to think outside the mental health status quo box

__ Time for a new edi­tion of Sharp­Brains’ e‑newsletter, fea­tur­ing a range of  research find­ings, resources, brain teasers and rid­dles to help trans­late emerg­ing neu­ro­science into real-world appli­ca­tions and improve our col­lec­tive brain & men­tal health. New think­ing: Neu­ro­science tips about grat­i­tude, aging, pain and the brain: An inter­view with Dr. Daniel Lev­itin What’s normal?…

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Large study finds positive yet mixed results from Akili’s digital therapeutic for kids with ADHD

__ Full pub­li­ca­tion of piv­otal tri­al data out­lines Akil­i’s case for FDA reg­u­la­tion (Mobi­Health­News): “A full tran­script of STARS-ADHD — the piv­otal tri­al of Akili Interactive’s video game-like pedi­atric atten­tion deficit treat­ment — has been pub­lished in The Lancet Dig­i­tal Health jour­nal, pro­vid­ing onlook­ers a clear view of data fuel­ing the dig­i­tal ther­a­peu­tic company’s pending…

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Lifestyle and neurotechnology over genetics

?” Dear col­league, It’s remark­able how quick­ly things are chang­ing, final­ly, in brain health and men­tal health — see for exam­ple what’s new with Inter­ax­on, Akili, Neu­raMetrix, Apple, Calm, Halo Neu­ro­science, Mind­strong Health, Novar­tis, Pear Ther­a­peu­tics, and life­long neu­ro­ge­n­e­sis, all in the last 6 months! Please enjoy the May edi­tion of Sharp­Brains eNewslet­ter below, and con­sid­er join­ing the…

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Reinventing Brain Medicine, Pharma adopts Digital Therapeutics: Evidence-based videogames, smartphone apps, and sensors

___ From app store to drug store, dig­i­tal health is redefin­ing pharma’s pipeline (STAT): “The pitch­es always sound­ed promis­ing: A new soft­ware app could track glu­cose lev­els for peo­ple with dia­betes or soothe the brains of insom­ni­acs. Most phar­ma exec­u­tives would polite­ly smile and nod, but then park their mon­ey some­where else. Not anymore.

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Update: Why monitoring Typing Cadence may help detect early Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease

_____ Time for Sharp­Brains’ first eNewslet­ter in 2018, offer­ing a fas­ci­nat­ing sneek peek into the rapid­ly grow­ing toolk­it to mea­sure and improve brain health.  (And don’t miss the fun teas­er at the end!) New think­ing: Brain­no­va­tions Win­ner Jan Samzelius on why mon­i­tor­ing Typ­ing Cadence may help detect ear­ly Parkin­son’s and Alzheimer’s Dis­ease Firms Race to Find…

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