Project description
Simple saliva sample to monitor autoimmune disease activity
Autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis can be severe, causing intense pain and suffering. In addition, patients might need to cope with unpredictable flares despite being on stable medication. The EU-funded a-Doc project proposes a method to measure disease activity quickly and non-invasively at home. This deep-tech innovation uses a novel biomarker algorithm based on gonadotropin releasing hormone, which is a common biomarker to several autoimmune diseases. Based on this approach, the a-Doc solution will use a saliva sample to indicate disease activity and provide an accurate, instantaneous value.
Objective
600m people globally suffer from autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis, and multiple sclerosis. The symptoms can be severe, causing intense pain and suffering for patients. The cost of RA alone for Europe is €45.3 billion p.a.
A growing need: Unlike diabetes patients for example who can measure their own blood sugar levels, there is currently no method to measure disease activity quickly and accurately for autoimmune patients, non-invasively at home. Furthermore, most autoimmune diseases have unpredictable flares in disease activity despite stable medication, and the causes of such flares differ between patients and are largely unidentifiable.
Our deep-tech innovation is an Artificial Intelligence approach to the Monitoring of Autoimmune Diseases at Home with a Novel Biomarker Algorithm: Through 15 years of research in this field, the founder of Kaass Discovery, Dr Anita Kaass, has shown a key biomarker, Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), is common to several autoimmune diseases. It has been scientifically shown that GnRH levels increase with increasing disease activity.
Kaass Discovery is developing a highly novel, deep tech solution to allow autoimmune disease patients to self-manage their conditions and minimize or even eliminate the symptoms of autoimmune diseases. The solution, which we call ‘a-Doc’, uses a saliva sample to indicate disease activity and provide an accurate, instantaneous value. In line with this need, it is also low cost, accurate and simple to use ensuring it is suitable for home use. The data collected from the device will be sent to the Kaass Discovery Cloud for improving the predictive analytical models, and giving an individualised meaningful result to the user on their mobile device
The aims of the Women TechEU programme align perfectly with the needs of Kaass Discovery. The business coaching support provided will ensure we are prepared and able to successfully commercialise this exciting technology.
Fields of science
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinerheumatology
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugs
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineendocrinologydiabetes
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicineneurologymultiple sclerosis
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicineimmunologyautoimmune diseases
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.3.2 - European innovation ecosystems Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-AG-LS - HORIZON Lump Sum GrantCoordinator
3937 PORSGRUNN
Norway
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.