NeuroVision receives $10M in financing for optical imaging device to detect Alzheimer's

NeuroVision Imaging (Sacramento, CA) has raised a Series B financing round led by a $5 million investment from Wildcat Capital Management (Fort Worth, TX) for its optical imaging device that images the retina to detect and monitor amyloid pathology related to Alzheimer's disease early. A portion of the Series B financing has been reserved for strategic investors.

Related: Fluorescent imaging approaches show potential for early Alzheimer's detection

A hallmark sign of Alzheimer's disease is the accumulation of amyloid-beta plaque in the brain. Positron emission tomography (PET) scans and cerebrospinal fluid analysis are currently used to detect amyloid for clinical trials and for diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. These procedures are invasive, inconvenient, and costly for clinical trial recruitment, and are impractical for routine screening, disease monitoring, and evaluation of therapy response.

The retina, the light-sensing structure at the back of the eye, is a developmental outgrowth of the central nervous system and shares many of the brain's characteristics, enabling the potential of retinal imaging for amyloid detection in Alzheimer's disease. Previous studies found that amyloid-beta plaque that accumulates in the brain also builds up in the retina, and shares similar plaque structure and other characteristics. This breakthrough was discovered by a team at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA), led by Keith L. Black, MD, and Maya Koronyo-Hamaoui, Ph.D. NeuroVision holds the exclusive worldwide license to this technology, which is owned by Cedars-Sinai.

Additionally, Leonard Potter, chief investment officer and president of Wildcat Capital Management, has been named to NeuroVision's board of directors.

For more information, please visit http://neurovision.com.