Research & Development

Eisai and EcoNaviSta have announced that they have entered into a business alliance agreement, initiating their collaboration intended to build an ecosystem in the field of dementia.

This is especially important for the two Japan-based companies, where dementia is more prevalent due to the country’s ‘super-ageing’ population.

The two companies are expected to utilise their combined expertise, technologies and networks to ‘promote proof-of-concept experiments to encourage awareness of changes in cognitive function among residents in care home facilites, through the use of Eisai’s digital check tool for brain health NouKNOW, EcoNaviSta’s Life Rhythm Navi, which visualises the transition of health status from sleep and lifestyle data, and the Dementia Prediction Model developed and patented by EcoNaviSta’, according to the press release.

NouKnow is a non-medical digital tool which allows users to self-assess in a short time frame of approximately 15 minutes. Life Rhythm Navi is a system which monitors sleep patterns via sensors placed inside and outside the user’s room. The press release goes on to explain that Data from both technologies will be used for the Dementia Prediction Model, which utilises artificial intelligence (AI) to ‘predict health trends’.

The collaboration aims at earlier detection of dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from the implementation of these technologies into care homes and other facilities aimed at elderly people while they are still in good health, as these places are not regularly attended by healthcare professionals who could identify signed of MCI.

According to the press release, Eisai’s Corporate Concept is to ‘"give first thought to patients and people in the daily living domain, and to increase the benefits that healthcare provides", aiming to "effectively achieve social good in the form of relieving anxiety over health and reducing health disparities. We strive to create and deliver innovative products that target diseases with high unmet medical needs in the fields of neurology, including dementia, oncology and global health, as well as the building ecosystems through collaboration with other industries", which is intrinsically tied to this collaboration with EcoNaviSta. An additional goal, according to the press release, is to ‘solve social challenges in various areas’ using the AI technology.