Dolby family invests $3m in ASX-listed Alzheimer’s testing company Cogstate
November 25, 2013 Leave a comment
Caitlin Fitzsimmons Online editor
Dolby family invests $3m in ASX-listed Alzheimer’s testing company Cogstate
Published 25 November 2013 11:32, Updated 25 November 2013 13:07
It takes decades before Alzheimer’s disease becomes dementia but a new test might be able to detect it in people who are still well. Photo: Jessica Shapiro
US billionaire Dagmar Dolby, the widow of inventor Ray Dolby, has taken a $3 million stake in Australian medical company Cogstate. The investment is part of a $7.5 million capital raising to accelerate the roll-out of Cognigram, a test that lets doctors detect early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.US real estate mogul Douglas Rosenberg has invested $465,000 and Cogstate is also undergoing a $4.05 million rights issue through the Australian Securities Exchange to close this week.
Cogstate made its name with computer testing to diagnose dementia, used mostly by clients in the pharmaceutical industry conducting clinical trials.
Chief science officer Dr Paul Maruff says it takes decades before Alzheimer’s disease becomes dementia but researchers have found markers for the disease when people are still well, with no symptoms.
The Cognigram test detects Alzheimer’s up to 20 years earlier than other tests, opening up possibilities for preventative treatment. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration allowed pharmaceutical companies to try to treat the disease in the early stages.
Future needs
The market for Cognigram is doctors or clinical decision-makers and Maruff says Cogstate believes this will be bigger than the pharmaceutical market in the long run.
“The issues around the detection of dementia are going to grow mainly because the cases of dementia are going to grow because the population is getting older and disorders of the brain occur most commonly in older people,” Maruff says. “The decision ‘no you haven’t got anything’ is just as important as having a diagnosis.”
Cognigram launched in Canada in partnership with Merck and, in that market, the general practitioners themselves are the customers. Plans to launch Cognigram in the US and Europe are under way.
“In some places, you may negotiate with the city, in other places with healthcare providers, and in other places with individual doctors,” Maruff says.
Cogstate earned $12.46 million in revenue in the 2013 financial year and made a net loss after tax of $1.96 million. Shares are currently trading at $3.90 on the ASX.
Ray Dolby invented videotape recording and was worth about $US2.4 billion when he died in September of leukaemia. In his later years, he had Alzheimer’s disease. Son David Dolby is to join Cogstate as a non-executive director.
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