Canada’s MYND partners with Mexican researchers

VANCOUVER and MEXICO CITY – Leaders of MYND Therapeutics Inc. and the Clinica de Obesidad at the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition Salvador Zubirán (INCMNSZ) met in Mexico City during the second half of October and signed a letter of intent to partner on co-developing solutions to combat obesity. The meeting was part of the Canadian Technology Accelerator Digital Health Program, Mexico, 2024.

Michael Mircea Bidu (pictured), founder and CEO of MYND Therapeutics Inc. and Dr. Emma Manzanera, head coordinator of the Obesity Clinic at INCMNSZ, signed the Letter of Intent on October 31st.

“This partnership with Mexico’s most prestigious institute for medical sciences and nutrition means that we will be in a better position to focus on preventive, precise and personalized medicine in primary care settings and to accelerate the training and adoption of digital health and digital therapeutics. I’d like to thank the Canadian and Mexican team that made the CTA Digital Health Program Mexico 2024 a success for us. Gracias!” said Bidu.

MYND Therapeutics Inc. (MYND) and the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán of Mexico (INCMNSZ) have been in discussions about partnering and testing novel digital behavioural therapeutics that are science-based and clinically proven to improve access to obesity prevention, treatment and management for Mexican people, communities and healthcare systems, such as primary community healthcare centers, obesity and weight management clinics, among others.

Among the main advantages of effective, easy to use and affordable digital therapeutics – delivered through smartphones at the right time and the right context – is that they can reach millions of people and focus on prevention through education, training and promotion of health and lifestyle change, preventing people from getting sick in the first place, all resulting in savings of time, money and lives.

The two organizations are committed to improving access and delivery, affordable care, equity for all. At the same time, better patient and provider experiences and generating improved health outcomes.

The intention of the two organizations is:

1. To strengthen the capacity and capability of Mexican health and medical researchers and clinicians in the new field of digital therapeutics (software-as-therapy).
2. To plan, implement and manage one or more validation pilot studies with small and representative segments of Mexicans living with obesity.
3. To identify strategic opportunities for long-term collaboration in the research and commercialization of digital therapies for obesity, and behavioral health and nutrition, in Mexico and Latin America.

MYND Therapeutics has invited the Instituto Nacional Salvador Zubiran (INCMNSZ) to be a strategic research partner in a validation study or studies of novel digital therapies designed to prevent, treat and manage obesity and mental health.

The science-based and clinically proven neurobehavioral therapy, called MYNDSET, is a patient-centric, clinician supported and AI-driven program, and one of the most advanced digital obesity care programs in the market today.

The strategic partnership includes access to digital health innovation, research and development collaboration, support with pilot projects and clinical trials, access to patients and researchers, and support with scientific and market intelligence, which ultimately will result in commercialization opportunities for both organizations.

Specifically, the companies discussed testing the efficacy of MYNDSET app as a complement of PAPO (Patient Attention Program for Obesity), a multi-disciplinary treatment that is in place currently at the Obesity Clinic at INCMNSZ.

The Clinica de Obesidad at INCMNSZ will be responsible for the ethics approval, recruitment and coordination of the study and for the publishing of the results of the study in medical journals.

MYND will be responsible for supplying the IP, software development, translation of the app in Spanish and customization or topicalization of it in Mexican context with support from the Clinica de Obesidad at INCMNSZ.

The MYNDSET app will be offered for free to the patients, researchers and clinicians participating in the study.

Both organizations are interested in launching the study in Q1, 2025.

“With the release of the Mexican Clinical Practice Guidelines for Adult Overweight and Obesity Management on October 2nd, the timing for a partnership with MYND Therapeutics couldn’t have been better. The scientific and clinical team at MYND is represented by some of Canada’s top obesity and diabetes experts, who are also co-authors of the Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines. That combined with their patient-centric, clinician-supported, AI-driven approach and years of experience in digital health and digital therapeutics gave us the confidence to work together,” said Dr. Manzanera.

“For the CTA Program, it is great news to witness this new partnership, showing once again that Canadian companies with differentiated technologies and with strong leadership are well received in the Mexican market,” said Luis Ernesto Gonzalez Rojas, trade commissioner and program manager of Canadian technology accelerators at Canada’s Embassy in Mexico.