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According to the World Health Organization, 25% of Europeans suffer from depression each year, while suicide is the leading cause of death for men aged 20 to 49 in England and Wales.
Based in Malmö, Flow Neuroscience has created a drug-free home treatment for the treatment of depression, including a portable pacing headset and a therapy application. We recently introduced Flow among the 10 European startups that are revolutionizing mental health.
After its launch in the UK and Sweden last month, Flow raised 1.3 million euros through an operation led by Khosla Ventures, which it will use to support its European roll-out, to introduce Flow to health care clinics and fund clinical studies.
People diagnosed with depression often have lower neuronal activity in their left frontal lobe, the part of the brain controlling significant cognitive skills, including emotional expression. The Flow helmet uses transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS), a form of neurostimulation that delivers a constant, low-level direct current through electrodes on the head to stimulate and rebalance neural activity in this area. In a recent clinical trial on tDCS, 41% of patients experienced a 50% or greater reduction in their depressive symptoms. The effects are similar to those of antidepressants, but Flow's neurostimulation treatment has fewer side effects and is less serious.
"We increase the choice of treatment and empower people to self-manage their symptoms at home with an effective, personalized and non-pharmacological alternative," said Daniel Mansson, clinical psychologist and co-founder of Flow. "This could potentially improve the quality of care and reduce the overall costs of health care. The investment of Khosla Ventures will support the next step of our journey and consolidate our position as the European leader in the treatment of brain stimulation for depression. "
The brain stimulation headset is used in conjunction with a therapy application, which informs users of videos about depression and explains how to reduce the symptoms, using the latest knowledge of sleep, nutrition, fitness and of meditation.
The Flow helmet sells for £ 399 and offers links to a therapy app available on iOS.
Flow begins discussions with the NHS for its brain stimulation headset to be available on prescription. And this year, Flow will work with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to obtain regulatory approval in the country.
"We are very pleased to support Flow Neuroscience in this effort to bring to market a new drug-free treatment for the treatment of depression", said Alexander Morgan, MD PhD, director of Khosla Ventures. "The research on tDCS show efficacy similar to that of pharmacological treatment with antidepressants, and the Flow team worked hard to demonstrate safety, which earned it approval for the sale in Europe as a clbad IIa medical device. The technology combines computer hardware and portable software. We believe this solution is an exciting and scalable solution for potentially hundreds of millions of people living with depression, giving patients new treatment options. "
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