French company buys Quebec leader in neuro tech

MONTREAL, QUEBEC CITY and PARIS – QYNAPSE SAS, a French medical technology company, has announced the acquisition of the Canadian company TRUE POSITIVE MEDICAL DEVICES Inc. (TPMD), a spin-off from the universities of McGill and Laval.

The goal is to combine TPMD’s technologies, patents and expertise with Qynapse’s know-how and product line to form one of the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) platforms in the field of imaging of brain diseases – such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis.

Over the past 15 years, the founders of TPMD, Prof. Louis Collins (McGill University, Montreal) and Prof. Simon Duchesne (Université Laval, Quebec City) have established one of the most impressive scientific and technological asset bases in brain imaging and AI applied to this field, supported by more than 500 publications and scientific communications. These technologies are already being used in Canada by leading research consortia and private international players in studies specifically related to neurodegeneration, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

QYNAPSE is already marketing its first QyScore medical device to clinical centres in Europe and the United States. Its platform is also used in clinical trials involving dozens of centres worldwide. The collaboration with TPMD will allow QYNAPSE to extend the applications of its QyScore software to other brain diseases, such as stroke, epilepsy, autism, schizophrenia, and head trauma, and to develop new software to predict clinical progression for individual patients and optimize enrollment in clinical trials.

QYNAPSE’s acquisition of TPMD covers 15 patents, including nine issued in the United States and Canada, grouped into nine technological asset families. The founders of TPMD will join QYNAPSE’s scientific board, setting the stage for a long-term collaboration.

“QYNAPSE is a very promising partner for TPMD and both McGill and Laval universities, which will allow us to accelerate the regulatory approval and marketing of the technologies we have developed in recent years,” said Dr. Collins.

Dr. Duchesne added, “Indeed, with QYNAPSE we will have access to a partner that is already well established in the medical field. We look forward to providing clinicians with the tools they need to improve the accuracy of their diagnosis, facilitate prognosis and guide treatment for diseases such as dementias and cerebrovascular diseases.”

“We are delighted to partner with two of the world’s leading experts in brain imaging, and to expand our scientific and clinical collaborations with two major centers of excellence in this field.” said Olivier Courrèges, CEO of QYNAPSE. “This collaboration will create a unique technological structure, strengthening our ability to deploy powerful tools to address two major challenges: clinical trial performance and personalized management of brain diseases, which affect more than one in six people worldwide.”

Once finalized, TPMD will be integrated into QYNAPSE CANADA Inc. and TPMD’s scientific and commercial partnership contracts will be operated by this new entity.

About QYNAPSE
Founded in 2015, QYNAPSE is a French medical technology company, a spin-off from the CATI consortium of neuroimaging research laboratories. The company develops and markets solutions utilizing the potential of quantitative imaging and artificial intelligence to optimize diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of patients with neurological diseases. QYNAPSE is headquartered in Paris (France) and in Boston (USA). For more information, see www.qynapse.com.

About TRUE POSITIVE MEDICAL DEVICES (TPMD)
Founded in 2011, TRUE POSITIVE MEDICAL DEVICE Inc. is a spin-off from the work of Prof. Simon Duchesne at the CERVO Brain Research Center and Université Laval and Prof. Louis Collins at the Montreal Neurological Institute and McGill University. The company designs, validates and operates a brain image processing platform to aid in the diagnosis and prognosis of neurological and psychiatric diseases. TPMD is based in Montreal and Quebec City (QC, Canada). For more information, see www.truepositivemd.com.