A digital brain assessment tool by ASX-listed neuroscience tech company Cogstate is coming to Taiwan and Hong Kong. 

On Thursday, the Cogstate announced that CogMate, the global multilingual version of its NouKNOW digital tool for self-assessment of brain performance, will be distributed by pharmaceutical firm Eisai in the two Asian markets.

WHAT IT DOES

Accessible via web and mobile devices, CogMate is a non-medical device for brain performance assessment. It renders what is called the Brain Performance Index, which measures aspects of cognition, such as memory and decision making. The results, according to the company, can inform lifestyle advice for maintaining brain performance. 

Much like NouKNOW, its Japanese counterpart, CogMate is also developed using Cogstate Brief Battery, a cognitive function test by Cogstate. 

Based on a press statement, similar launches of the digital tool in other Asian countries, including Singapore, will happen in the coming months.

WHY IT MATTERS

The Alzheimer's Disease International, a global federation of dementia associations, previously projected that around 71 million people in Asia-Pacific will likely have dementia by 2050, growing from about 23 million in 2015. The condition has cost the region an estimated $185 billion six years ago with the greatest costs recorded in Japan and China. 

Through marketing products and solutions like cognitive assessment, Eisai, which will exclusively distribute CogMate in Taiwan and Hong Kong, said it aims to create an ecosystem to prevent dementia and support those living with the condition. 

In 2019, Cogstate and Eisai first signed an exclusive licensing deal to market Cogstate technologies in Japan. A year later, they extended the agreement to cover the rest of the world. 

MARKET SNAPSHOT

One of the most recognisable players in the brain health space is BrainCheck. The company develops mobile and desktop software to assess cognitive decline and screen for cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Last year in November, it closed a $10 million Series B funding round. 

Other players in this space include Quest Diagnostics, which created the cognitive assessment app CogniSense that assists doctors in diagnosis, assessment, and care management of people with cognitive dysfunction, and Savonix, which developed a brain training and brain testing app.  

In other news, private tertiary acute care provider Farrer Park Hospital in Singapore has employed an AI-enabled MRI screening tool to quantify brain tissue volume in patients suspected of having dementia. The hospital started offering its latest neuroimaging service last year in September.