Today, the HITLAB Breakthrough Alliance (BTA) announced its selection of a digital health innovation for rapid verification testing of their new solution by HITLAB. Selected innovators – GrayMatters Health Ltd. – were chosen from over 100 submissions to the BTA Spring 2021 innovative call for applications were selected for developing very promising large-scale and long-term digital solutions to the mental health crisis highlighted by the pandemic global COVID-19. As participants in the next cohort of Outstanding BTA Innovators, HITLAB will lead efforts to rapidly verify their solutions for measurable results, market fit and / or potential impact.

This work is supported and advised by members of the board of directors of BTA – a consortium of executive leaders drawn from life sciences, pharmaceutical institutions, academic medical institutions and healthcare providers (including the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund LLC, BDO, Medidata Solutions Atlas Venture, StartUp Health, CATALAIZE, Consummate Capital, Novartis, EdgeOne Medical, Esplanade Ventures and Northwell Health) – all committed to improving health outcomes and the delivery of care through verified emerging technologies.

During this pandemic, in light of global lockdowns, the mental health crisis in healthcare has become more evident than ever. To make the right treatments even more accessible to those who need them most, they need to be compact, easy to deploy and very cost effective. By identifying promising early-stage innovations that can streamline processes and improve patient outcomes, the HITLAB Breakthrough Alliance is working to reduce disparities in healthcare. Through testing and value verification, BTA hopes to accelerate proven solutions for wide dissemination in healthcare systems around the world.

GrayMatters Health Ltd. – Co-founders Shai Attia, vice president R&D, Oded Kraft, CEO and Rani Cohen, executive president, BD – Location: Haifa, Israel

GrayMatters Health Ltd., based in Haifa, Israel, develops innovative neuroscience-based digital therapies for the therapy of mental health disorders, initially focusing on therapy for PTSD. GrayMatters Health’s product uses an fMRI-guided machine learning model to process EEG signals to teach PTSD patients to down-regulate specific brain activity associated with PTSD. The company’s investigational device, Prism for PTSD, is currently undergoing clinical studies and will be under FDA review in the future. The company was founded by three experienced entrepreneurs who licensed the core technology, developed by Professor Hendler, from the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Kraft added, “We are excited about the opportunity to work with BTA and the HITLAB ecosystem to bring Prism for PTSD into the U.S. healthcare system, whether through pilots or other collaborations.”

HITLAB’s Revolutionary Alliance Director, Dr Sara Chokshi, explained how digital health innovation is increasing around the world, resulting in an increasing importance of rapidly testing and verifying value to help development and scaling up these promising solutions. “Healthcare is full of digital innovation. The next step is to look to generating real-world evidence to demonstrate that the solutions are effective and can work in existing systems, ”added Dr Chokshi.

The HITLAB Breakthrough Alliance – resulting from the Digital Health Breakthrough Network partnership between the NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and HITLAB – now works with the fifth group of startup solutions selected for verification by HITLAB and its strategic partners.

To join the HITLAB Breakthrough Alliance as a member or to apply as an innovator for the next course, please visit www.hitlab.org/breakthrough.

About the HITLAB Breakthrough Alliance

HITLAB Breakthrough Alliance is an accelerator that helps start-ups conduct rapid pilot studies to test their products and get closer to the market. The selected startups have their technologies tested in pilot studies with clinical partners and patients, gathering the data needed to accelerate their concepts. To find startups, Breakthrough hosts open innovation competitions and networking events that bring together the digital health and investing ecosystem.

Breakthrough is membership-based and board members represent the best organizations in the healthcare industry.