Industry Update - Feb 13th

Takeda join Novartis and Merck in $45 M investment in Koneksa Health.

Company - Koneksa positions themselves as a digital biomarker company. So this week I will try to explore more on Koneksa and digital biomarkers.

Koneksa's platform stands to benefit from the renewed interest the COVID-19 pandemic brought to remote monitoring of clinical trials, since the technology is designed to collect patient data remotely and analyze details in real time.

Founders - The company was founded in 2015 by Chris Benko and he still assumes the role of CEO.

Technology - Here is a quick video of what is a digital biomarker. Digital biomarkers are defined as objective, quantifiable physiological and behavioral data that are collected and measured by means of digital devices such as portables, wearables, implantables, or digestibles. The data collected are typically used to explain, influence, and/or predict health-related outcomes.

Here is another nature publication which explains biomarkers in more structured details.

Future plans - The recent series C funding of $45 M bring total funding received till date to $70. The recent funding will go toward expanding Koneksa’s digital biomarker platform. The funding will also go toward developing self-service capabilities for Koneksa's clinical data integration solutions. The endgame is to help with trial recruitment, create a seamless experience for patients and improve access to study evidence for sponsors and research organizations.

Customer segment - Most companies I have analyzed sooner or later focus on oncology therapeutic area. In the video above Chris mentions this as one of the highlights that digital biomarkers are not just limited to conditions related to motion but can be effectively used in areas like oncology. A pilot done by Koneksa in Bronx in multiple types of tumors and variety of treatment classes suggested based on activity patterns collected as digital biomarkers imminent hospitalization of the patient undergoing the treatment can be predicted better than any other traditional biomarkers.

Who Pays - The incumbent players in Pharma and biotech. Koneksa helps researchers incorporate emerging technologies (bio-sensors, activity trackers, mobile-based questionnaires, etc.) into their clinical studies.

Competition - There are bunch of other companies working in this area. If you visit digital biomarker summit website these are listed as sponsors or partners. ActivInsights, ActiGraph, VivoSense, FeeMe, NeuraMetrics etc. Some are generic and covers variety of therapeutic areas whereas some of them are specific offering digital biomarkers in a particular therapeutic area (NeuraMetrics) or new technology (FeetMe).