Medicortex Finland Oyj is a biotech company founded in 2014 in Turku, Finland. Medicortex is dedicated to improving the diagnostics and treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). TBI refers to a damage of brain tissue caused by a hit to the head or a vigorous swing of the head. Typical reasons for TBI are falls, traffic accidents, contact sport injuries and combat injuries. TBI remains a “silent epidemic” due to its low awareness among people – it is still quite poorly recognized despite its relatively high prevalence. Today, there are no accurate, widely approved diagnostic tool to detect TBI unambiguously. Neurological examination of patient’s responses is currently used as the first assessment of the patient’s condition, and the diagnosis is frequently aided by computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Currently used methods are not sufficient, especially, for detecting mild TBI or concussion which is a risky condition when not recognized and which represents the highest volume (up to 90%) of all TBI cases.
The current focus of Medicortex is on the development of an easy-to-use diagnostic test for rapid detection of TBI. The test is based on unique proprietary biomarkers released as biodegradation products upon brain injury, detected from non-invasive samples (urine and saliva). The presence and applicability of the biomarker for detection of TBI has been established in a preclinical study and three clinical studies performed by Medicortex. Ideally, the test could be applied within minutes of the initial injury. The test is intended to be rapid, reliable, inexpensive, easy to interpret, and it reduces the use of unnecessary CT/MRI scans which are frequently inconclusive. The test will address a TBI point of care (POC) diagnostics market that is estimated to exceed €2 billion annually. The potential clientele is vast, including hospitals, the army, sports organizations, as well as consumers.
– Dr. Adrian Harel, CEO of Medicortex Finland