MANUS Neurodynamica Limited (“Manus”), which develops and markets products and technologies for neuromotor assessment, announces it has received an SBRI Healthcare Development Contract to develop its Parkinson’s disease diagnostic for the GP market.
Manus will work with clinicians and NHS Health economists to further develop the ManusNeuroTM Pen as a GP diagnostic for the assessment of suspected Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, and for monitoring patients to optimise treatment.
Manus’ product is a unique and patented diagnostic system which combines sensor technologies built into a digital pen with associated proprietary analytical software to capture and analyse minute limb and hand movements. These measurements provide objective information about movement abnormalities to support the diagnosis and monitoring of PD and other neuromotor impairments.
The system is CE marked as a Class 1 medical device which means it can sold throughout Europe for the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.
The first phase of clinical validation was completed with key opinion leaders in the Netherlands, UK and Ireland. The system was able to differentiate PD from other tremor/motor disorders with a higher degree of accuracy than standard clinical assessments. Additional trials are on-going with six NHS Trusts in the North East of England under the supervision of Professor Richard Walker, Consultant Physician/Honorary Professor of Ageing & International Health, Newcastle University.
Professor Richard Walker of Newcastle University, said: “The ManusNeuro pen may help identify patients where the symptoms are not typical or have not developed. In situations where there is some doubt, we often refer patients for a scan, but these cost £1,000 a time, so if the pen allows us to be more sure about the diagnosis it should mean we will need to refer fewer people for expensive scans.”
Dr Rutger Zietsma, Managing Director of Manus Neurodynamica, said: “Using our pen in the 9,800 GP practices in England will reduce costs by ending the unnecessary referrals of patients to specialist centres. Our 21st century diagnostic can differentiate a Parkinson’s patient from a patient with another neuromotor condition and ensure that only those patients who need to see a specialist are referred by the GP to an already overstretched service. We are excited to be working with the NHS to achieve this goal”
Enquiries
Manus Neurodynamica Ltd
Dr Rutger Zietsma, Managing Director
07870 100 160
r.c.zietsma@manusneuro.com
Exordium Consulting Ltd (Advisors to Manus)
Dr Keith Redpath, Director
07738 733 663
Walbrook PR (PR advisors to Manus)
Lianne Cawthorne / Anna Dunphy
020 7933 8780
lifesciences@walbrookpr.com
Notes to Editors
About Manus Neurodynamica - www.manusneuro.com
Following five years of academic research on neuroscience and handwriting at the University of Strathclyde, Dr Rutger Zietsma founded Manus in August 2008. The Company’s main activity is designing, patenting and marketing innovative technologies used in medical devices and personal care products which have the capability to improve people’s health and wellbeing.
Its principal product is a sensory pen designed for use in the diagnosis and monitoring of neuromotor impairments. The pen particularly focuses on patients with Parkinson’s disease and uses limb and hand motion to diagnose patients quickly and non-invasively. It has applications across not just diagnosis but also screening, monitoring, rehabilitation and drug development.
In June 2016 Manus entered into a distribution agreement for its diagnostic system with Cambridge Cognition Holdings PLC (LSE: COG). The agreement provides Cambridge Cognition with sole rights to market the pen in academic research, pharmaceutical clinical trials and occupational health markets.
About SBRI Healthcare – www.sbrihealthcare.co.uk
The Small Business Research Initiative for Healthcare (“SBRI Healthcare”) is an NHS England initiative, championed by the Academic Health Science Networks, whose role is to promote UK economic growth by spreading innovation and best practice across the NHS. The SBRI Healthcare competitions are launched on a biannual basis and result in fully funded development contracts between the awarded company and NHS England to meet known healthcare need.
About Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that affects one in 100 people over age 60. While the average age at onset is 60, people have been diagnosed as young as 18. There is no objective test for Parkinson’s disease, so the rate of misdiagnosis can be relatively high, especially when the diagnosis is made by a non-specialist. Estimates of the number of people living with the disease therefore vary, but recent research indicates that more than five million worldwide have Parkinson’s disease (Source: Michael J Fox Foundation)
In the UK the current PD care pathway does not always deliver satisfactory levels of care. Waiting lists to be seen by a specialist of 3-6 months are common. Waiting times of up to 12 months have been reported in some parts of the country along with diagnostic error rates of up to 47%.
With the long waiting times, GPs are increasingly involved with the initial diagnosis and subsequent management of Parkinson’s. According to a recent report by the Parkinson UK, 20% of all new diagnoses of Parkinson’s are made by GPs. However, GPs often have not received any training in the diagnosis of this complex disease. About 15% of all Parkinson’s patients have never been seen by a hospital doctor.
There is a need for an easy to use low cost tool to aid diagnosis and monitoring of Parkinson’s.
Typically, 70% of the economic burden of PD - affecting 1.2 million patients with a cost burden in Europe estimated at €13.9 billion - is related to long term disability. Early accurate diagnosis with treatment optimisation for individual patients, may decrease the high costs of the disease in its later stages.
Screening individuals at risk could become routine - those suffering from a combination of symptoms, e.g. constipation, depression, loss of smell and insomnia that typically develop 6-7 years before clinical PD symptoms – enabling earlier diagnosis. In addition, monitoring of patients in primary care will improve efficiency of specialist care centres by removing these patients from the hospital setting.
