Monsenso has signed an agreement with Awakn Life Sciences, a global biotech company

Monsenso has signed an agreement with Awakn Life Sciences, a global biotech company

by | Nov 9, 2021 | Addiction, Depression, News, Pharma

Monsenso has signed an agreement with, a global biotech company, to support the company’s medical psychedelic treatments. Awakn Life Sciences is a global biotech company that leads the field of psychedelic medicine for the treatment of addiction. In October 2021 commenced the implementation of the Monsenso Digital Health Solution in Awakn Life Sciences clinical practice as a tool for supporting patients throughout their treatment while capturing real-world patient insights to inform clinical decision-making and personalised treatment.

Mental illness and addiction are some of the biggest public health challenges facing the global community.

Nearly one billion people worldwide suffer from mental illness, for which there are too few effective treatments available beyond coping strategies and treating symptoms. With global spending on mental health estimated to reach $16 trillion by 2030 (as measured by lost economic output)[1], it is critical that effective new treatments are developed to address the current gaps. Psychedelic-assisted therapy has emerged as a potential solution to this treatment vacuum. In the early 20th century, these substances were severely restricted and had a negative connotation. Today, however, a growing body of evidence and urgent unmet patient needs have led clinicians and regulators to consider them as a viable treatment option.

Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy represents a paradigm shift in psychiatric treatment

Psychedelic drugs are substances that alter perception and mood and affect various cognitive processes. When used in conjunction with psychotherapy, they can put patients in a temporary state where they can better process memories, emotions, and past traumas[2], allowing for processing that enables subjects to let go of things that have previously troubled them[3]. For the same reason, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has shown effective in treating historically difficult-to-treat illnesses[4] and is today considered a promising game-changer in psychiatric treatment[5,6,7].

While psychedelics have spurred great interest in the life science industry, only a few psychedelic companies are currently treating patients in the clinical setting. Awakn Life Sciences launched the UK’s first psychedelic-assisted clinic in Bristol, followed by London and Manchester, offering evidence-based psychedelic therapies for addiction and other mental health indications, and has also opened a clinic in Oslo, Norway with plans to scale across Europe quickly.

In October 2021, Awakn Life Science commenced implementation of the Monsenso Digital Health Solution in its clinical practice to support patients throughout their treatment journey and to capture real-world data to inform clinicians’ decision making for personalised patient support and management.

“We are excited to work with Awakn Life Science to support new treatment options for people who have experienced insufficient treatment results. We look forward to partnering with Awakn Life Sciences and be part of their growth journey” says CEO of Monsenso, Thomas Lethenborg.

Awakn’s CEO, Anthony Tennyson added “There’s such a critical need to provide solutions and hope to people suffering from mental illnesses and addiction. We’re excited to partner with Monsenso to better engage with clients throughout their treatment, gain insights to help inform clinical decisions and improve health outcomes, and generate insights that inform our research and treatment development programs”.

About Awakn Life Sciences 
Awakn Life Sciences is a publicly-traded (NEO: AWKN) (OTCQB: AWKNF) biotechnology company with clinical operations; researching, developing, and delivering psychedelic medicine to better treat Addiction. Awakn’s team consists of worldleading chemists, scientists, psychiatrists, and psychologists who are developing and advancing the next generation of psychedelic drugs, therapies and enabling technologies to treat Addiction.

About Monsenso
Monsenso is an innovative technology company offering a digital health solution used for decentralised trials, remote patient monitoring and treatment support. Our mission is to contribute to improved health for more people at lower costs by supporting treatment digitally and leveraging patient-reported outcomes data. Our solution helps optimise the treatment and gives a detailed overview of an individual’s health through the collection of outcome, adherence, and behavioural data. It connects individuals, carers, and health care providers to enable personalised treatment, remote care, and early intervention. We collaborate with health and social care, pharmaceuticals, and leading researcher worldwide in our endeavours to deliver solutions that fit into the life of patients and health care professionals. To learn more visit  www.monsenso.com.

For additional information contact:
Bettina van Wylich-Muxoll
Chief Marketing Officer
marketing@monsenso.com
Monsenso

Sources:

[1] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/mental-health-day-covid19-coronavirus-global/

[2] https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/back-to-the-future-psychedelic-drugs-in-psychiatry-202106222508

[3] Jennifer Mitchell, neuroscientist and professor in the departments of neurology, psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California San Francisco.

[4] Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Paradigm Shift in Psychiatric Research and Development

[5] https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/back-to-the-future-psychedelic-drugs-in-psychiatry-202106222508

[6] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-renaissance-for-psychedelics-could-fill-a-long-standing-treatment-gap-forpsychiatric-disorders/

[7] Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Paradigm Shift in Psychiatric Research and Development

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Monsenso is ISO 13485 certified

Monsenso is ISO 13485 certified

by | Aug 21, 2020 | News

Quality Policy and Standards

As a technology leader in mobile health (mHealth) solutions for mental health, Monsenso is ISO 13485 certified.

ISO 13485 is the gold standard for medical device companies to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of products in the medical device field. This certification ensures that the product in question, consistently meets customer requirements and regulatory requirements applicable to medical devices and other related services.

“Monsenso adheres to the highest security standards. Beyond, being ISO 13485, Monsenso holds the ISO 27001 certifications, a TGA certification and class 1 CE mark.” says Thomas Lethenborg, CEO at Monsenso.

You can download this article as PDF in English.

For additional information contact:
Bettina van Wylich
Chief Marketing Officer
Monsenso
+45 22704724
wylich-muxoll@monsenso.com

Monsenso is ISO 13485 certified

Monsenso is ISO 13485 certified

by | Aug 21, 2020 | News, Press releases

Quality Policy and Standards

As a technology leader in mobile health (mHealth) solutions for mental health, Monsenso is ISO 13485 certified. ISO 13485 is the gold standard for medical device companies to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of products in the medical device field. This certification ensures that the product in question, consistently meets customer requirements and regulatory requirements applicable to medical devices and other related services.

“Monsenso adheres to the highest security standards. Beyond, being ISO 13485 certified, Monsenso holds the ISO 27001 certification and class 1 CE mark.” says Thomas Lethenborg, CEO at Monsenso.

For additional information contact:
Jennifer Highland
Marketing and Communications Manager
Monsenso
+45 81 71 7713
highland@monsenso.com

Improving the treatment of bipolar disorder with mobile health technology

Improving the treatment of bipolar disorder with mobile health technology

by | Dec 3, 2015 | Bipolar, mHealth

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. [1]

People suffering from bipolar disorder will have periods or episodes of depression – where they feel very low and lethargic mania – where they feel high and overactive. [2]

Unlike simple mood swings, each episode of bipolar disorder can last for several weeks and some people may not experience a “normal” mood very often. [2]

Getting an accurate diagnosis is the first step in bipolar disorder treatment. However, this isn’t always easy. The mood swings of bipolar disorder can be difficult to distinguish from other problems such as major depression, ADHD, and borderline personality disorder. For many people suffering from bipolar disorder, it takes years and numerous doctor visits before the problem is correctly identified and treated. [3]

Indicators of bipolar disorder:

  • Repeated episodes of major depression
  • First episode of major depression was experienced before age 25
  • First-degree relative suffering from bipolar disorder
  • Mood and energy levels are higher than most people’s when not depressed
  • Oversleeping and overeating when depressed
  • Episodes of major depression are shorter than 3 months
  • Lost contact with reality while depressed
  • Suffered from postpartum depression in the past
  • Developed mania or hypomania while taking antidepressants
  • Antidepressants stopped working after several months
  • Tried three or more antidepressants without success [3]

If a person is not treated, episodes of bipolar-related mania can last for between three to six months. Episodes of depression tend to last longer, for between six and twelve months. However, with effective treatment, episodes usually improve within about three months. [2]

Most people with bipolar disorder can be treated using a combination of different treatments that can include:

  • Medication such as mood stabilisers and antidepressants
  • Learning to recognize triggers and early warning signs of an episode of depression or mania
  • Psychotherapy to deal with depression and provide advice on how to improve relationships
  • Lifestyle advice such as doing regular exercise, planning activities you enjoy that give you a sense of achievement, and advice on improving your diet and getting more sleep [2]

Mobile health technology

The Monsenso mHealth platform is based on The MONARCA Research Project, aimed at developing and validating a solution for multi-parametric, long-term monitoring of behavioral and physiological information relevant to bipolar disorder.

The Monsenso solution can help predict and prevent episodes by training patients to recognize their early warning signs, which are symptoms that indicate an oncoming episode [4].

In particular, during the research project, it was discovered that these three parameters are crucial in keeping a bipolar patient stable:

  • Adherence to prescribed medication: Taking all medications on a daily basis, exactly as prescribed.
  • Stable sleep patterns: Sleeping eight hours every night and maintaining a consistent routine of going to bed, waking up.
  • Staying active both physically and socially: Getting out of the house every day, going to work, and engaging in social interaction.

Therefore, the Monsenso solution includes five core features that support a patient’s self-management:

  • Self-assessments – Reminded by an alarm, patients enter subjective data directly into the system through their smartphones. This data includes mood, sleep, level of activity, and medication. Some items can be customized to accommodate a patient’s specific needs, while others are consistent to provide statistical analysis.
  • Activity monitoring – Through a GPS and accelerometer, objective data is collected to monitor a patient’s level of engagement in daily activities. The system can also measure the amount of social activity based on phone calls and text messages.
  • Historical overview of data – On the web portal, patients and clinicians can obtain a two-week snapshot of a patient’s basic data for immediate feedback. The portal also gives them access to a detailed historical overview of the data, enabling them to explore it in depth by going back in time, and focusing on specific variables.
  • Coaching and self-treatment – The MONARCA systems supported psychotherapy in two ways. Firstly, through customizable triggers that notify the patient and clinician when the data potentially indicates a warning sign. Second, since the patients have access to their own Early Warning Signs, it empowers them to learn more about them.
  • Data sharing – To strengthen the relationship between patients and clinicians, important information and treatment decisions are shared.

Resources:

[1] What is bipolar disorder? National Institute of Mental Health. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder/index.shtml

[2] Bipolar disorder. National Health Service (NHS) UK. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Bipolar-disorder/Pages/Introduction.aspx

[3] Bipolar disorder treatment. HelpGuide.org http://www.helpguide.org/articles/bipolar-disorder/bipolar-disorder-treatment.htm