ADmit Therapeutics is a biotechnology company founded at the end of 2017 as a spin-off from the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL). The company is focused on the development and commercialization of a new early detection technology for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and has successfully closed a €5.4 million equity round.
ADmit has secured a €5.4 million equity round with Clave Capital as the lead investor, with significant support from the EIC Fund and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) Diagnostics Accelerator (DxA), alongside other investors such as Lavanda Ventures, Ship2B and WA4Steam. This funding round will enable the company to obtain CE marking and FDA approval for the commercialization of their technology MAP-AD in Europe and the United States.
MAP-AD, the technology, is based on an algorithm capable of stratifying Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) patients based on their probability of progressing to AD dementia (ADD) through the epigenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) methylation signatures in a patient’s blood sample. The innovative approach of MAP-AD lies in these disruptive findings, a combination of patented biomarkers based on mtDNA methylation patterns and a novel algorithm to link the pattern with the clinical prognosis of ADD.
The use of MAP-AD technology by pharmaceutical companies to optimize patient selection has the potential to reduce the time and costs associated with clinical trials, increasing the likelihood of identifying new effective therapies for AD.
There is a clear need for individualized prognosis of MCI progression to ADD. Timely and accurate diagnosis of AD impacts the quality of life of patients and their families by allowing for timely and optimized treatment.
Marta Barrachina, CEO of ADmit, highlighted: “Our unique value proposition allows us to calculate the probability of a patient with MCI progressing to AD with just a blood sample and using state-of-the-art sequencing techniques. This enables clinicians to optimally stratify patients and prescribe the best treatment.”
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a biomedical research center created in 2004. It is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
IDIBELL is a member of the Campus of International Excellence of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centers accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the “HR Excellence in Research” program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Center of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).