Eisai, Biofourmis CEO back Singapore healthtech firm’s $2.3m pre-seed round

Singaporean healthtech firm Neuroglee Threpeautics announced it has secured US$2.3 million in pre-seed funding in a round led by global pharmaceutical Eisai.

Kuldeep Singh Rajput, founder and CEO of US-based biotechnology company Biofourmis, also participated in the round, according to a statement.

Neuroglee Founder and CEO Aniket Singh Rajput / Photo credit: Neuroglee

Neuroglee discovers, develops, and commercializes software as medical treatment for patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. It  also offers digital therapeutics and monitoring tools that can help preserve cognition and facilitate accelerated drug development.

Its flagship product NG-001 is a prescription software for patients with Alzheimer’s disease that can be used independently or in conjunction with pharmacotherapy. It tracks a patient’s cognitive function using digital biomarkers and gamifies techniques and cognitive tasks on a digital tablet.

Neuroglee said it plans to use the new funds to advance the product pipeline for NG-001. The company is targeting to begin clinical trials for its lead product in early 2021 and aims to open its US operations in Boston in the same year.

In Singapore, according to 2015 estimates, one in 10 people aged 60 years and above may have dementia in Singapore. Meanwhile, Japan has over 4.6 million people living with the disease.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for better care models for seniors living with neurodegenerative diseases,” said Neuroglee’s co-founding scientific adviser Murali Doraiswamy. With its platform, Neuroglee aims to set the bar for “personalized, high-quality, integrative care for people with dementia and those at risk,” the exec added.