Canada-based medical AI company RetiSpec has announced the closing of $10m Series A financing for advancing the commercialisation of its AI-driven eye test to detect Alzheimer's disease.
The latest funding brings the company’s total fundraising to $17m.
The Series A financing was led by iGan Partners and included new strategic investors Topcon Healthcare and Eli Lilly and Company.
It also saw participation from existing investors, including the University of Minnesota's Discovery Capital, Gentex and the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation's Diagnostics Accelerator, in addition to private investors.
RetiSpec co-founder and CEO Eliav Shaked said: “We are thrilled to welcome such strong new investors, alongside existing investors such as Gentex, who have been key contributors throughout our journey.
“Together, this investment will allow us to accelerate the commercialisation of our AI-driven eye test, which has the potential to transform patient outcomes and enable early, accurate, and equitable access to treatment.”
RetiSpec said its clinically validated test aims to help predict amyloid burden, which is said to be a core biomarker of Alzheimer's disease.
Currently only available for research use, the test is expected to be used in routine clinical office visits worldwide in the future, the company said.
RetiSpec's AI solutions can provide real-time assessments at the point of care when applied to non-invasive retinal images.
The company is considering developing additional AI-driven diagnostics for neurodegenerative diseases and Alzheimer's therapeutics side effects.
Furthermore, RetiSpec plans to take part in the planned Global Alzheimer's Platform Foundation (GAP)-sponsored Bio-Hermes-002 study.
The study aims to assess the relationship between new Alzheimer's markers, including RetiSpec's test, as well as the gold standard for diagnosis in a sample of 1,000 cognitively normal and impaired subjects.
Bio-Hermes-002 is expected to include participants from traditionally underrepresented populations in Alzheimer's studies.
