Verge Genomics to incorporate Emerald digital health technology into its ALS phase 1b proof-of-concept clinical trial

Verge Genomics, a clinical-stage, tech-enabled biotechnology company using artificial intelligence (AI) and human data to transform drug discovery and development, announced that Emerald Innovations’ wireless digital health technology will be used in its upcoming clinical trials to study a new therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Emerald's wireless sensors will be used to capture 'objecive' critical patient data in its planned Phase 1b proof-of-concept study of the PIKfyve inhibitor VRG50635, the novel therapeutic for ALS.

Designed by Dina Katabi, principal investigator for the MIT Jameel Clinic and co-founder of Emerald Innovations, the biosensor belongs to a new class of 'invisible' sensors that operate in the background, and extract health metrics by analysing the surrounding radio signals using AI, without requiring patients to use wearable devices or to manually record their experience.

Through the collaboration, Emerald’s wireless digital health sensors will be placed in study participants’ homes to continuously measure key neurological functions affected by ALS, including sleeping, breathing, walking and mobility. Analyses of the Emerald data will be used to assess changes in patients being treated with increasing doses of VRG50635.