LONDON, UK: Cambridge Cognition (AIM: COG), which develops and markets digital options to evaluate mind health, introduced the acquisition of Winterlight Labs Inc, a chief in monitoring cognitive impairment through free-speech analysis.
The total consideration for the acquisition is £7.0 million, comprising a money payment of £3.0 million and £4.0 million in Cambridge Cognition shares.
Winterlight Labs, based in Toronto, Canada, focuses on machine-learning based voice assessments, utilizing free-speech inputs or these that require deductive reasoning or interpretation. These are widely utilized in clinical trials. Winterlight has its origins inside the Computational Linguistics division on the University of Toronto, which developed novel strategies of analysing speech that were first patented in 2007.
In 2015 it spun out Winterlight, led by two entrepreneurial team members and supported by a number one professor inside the field. Winterlight raised angel and enterprise capital funding, invested significantly in new applications and clinical validation, and constructed a enterprise with over 20 pharmaceutical and healthcare customers over the previous 7 years.
Both Cambridge Cognition and Winterlight share a common goal of developing digital well being merchandise to higher understand, detect and deal with conditions affecting mind health. The capabilities of the mixed organisation will create an organization with strengths throughout technology platforms for screen-based, structured voice-based and free-speech based cognitive assessments for clinical trials.
The mixed firm is well positioned to safe a market main place with voice biomarker technology for clinical trials, with additional potential for healthcare applications inside the future.
The marketplace for voice biomarkers for all conditions is reported to be rising at 66% per annum and, ranging from a modest base, is predicted be round US$220 million by 20261. Furthermore, Cambridge Cognition commissioned extensive market evaluation for voice options in 2022 and estimate that the market alternative for these currently provided by Winterlight particularly could exceed US$30 million by 2027.
To date, Cambridge Cognition’s approach to voice technology has been focussed on replicating structured short – that’s one or two phrase – verbal assessments that incorporate novel mental property. This has enabled the Company to scale supply of well-validated cognitive tests.
With the acquisition, Cambridge Cognition is including to its existing portfolio of main screen-based cognitive assessments and structured voice-based cognitive assessments with the complementary free-speech and vocal biomarker technology of Winterlight Labs.
Winterlight’s 28 staff, with complementary and extra experience in voice options and machine learning, are becoming a member of Cambridge Cognition. Taken together, the Acquisition significantly enhances Cambridge Cognition’s experience and place in voice-based assessments.
Winterlight Labs has an excellent and rising portfolio of customers collectively with 5 of the highest 10 life sciences companies globally, utilizing its technology to measure illness development and response to therapy. It has restricted overlap with Cambridge Cognition’s existing buyer base, offering the potential to cross-sell and generate additional income growth.
The mixed offering will support the Company’s growth ambitions with the chance to additional diversify its income stream. Over the longer-term, combining the outcomes of Cambridge Cognition’s existing digital cognitive assessments with Winterlight’s free-speech cognitive assessments presents an thrilling alternative to create a multi-modal biomarker with greater ranges of sensitivity to assist assess and potentially support the treatment of CNS disorders.
Commenting, Matthew Stork, Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge Cognition, said: “Having developed short speech-based cognitive assessments for a number of years, we have seen the appreciable potential for longer free-speech assessments.
There is a main alternative over the medium time period for growth on this field and it’s important to be an early entrant to safe a strong place for the future. Winterlight has established itself as a chief in monitoring cognitive impairment through free-speech analysis, as confirmed by extensive exterior market research.
With this acquisition, we can now offer many of the verbal cognitive assessments utilized in clinical trials giving us the potential for main growth inside the approaching years. We look ahead to welcoming our new colleagues at Winterlight in order that collectively we can construct on our mixed experience in voice technology to drive innovation in clinical trials.”
Liam Kaufman, Cofounder of Winterlight Labs, said: “For nearly eight years as an organization and a few years earlier than inside the University of Toronto, Winterlight has labored to develop speech-based digital biomarkers for healthcare and clinical trials. I am extremely proud of what we have engineered, validated and delivered to our life science partners.
This transaction opens an thrilling new chapter for Winterlight. We bring to Cambridge Cognition proprietary free-speech evaluation technology and a devoted team that are experts inside the field. We are looking ahead to being a half of Cambridge Cognition and collectively we can construct a number one place in vocal biomarker technology.”