Eisai to buy "dementia ecosystem" partner EcoNaviSta

Eisai's ambition to develop an integrated care system for people with dementia has taken another step forward with a decision to take control of EcoNaviSta, a specialist in software used to provide patient monitoring.

The Japanese pharma company – currently in the process of rolling out new amyloid-targeting Alzheimer's therapy Leqembi (lecanemab) worldwide – has launched a JPY 2,190-per-share tender offer for EcoNaviSta's shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, less than a year after partnering with the company.

Shares in EcoNaviSta closed up two-thirds at JPY 2,116 today, and the total purchase price for the company is expected to be approximately JPY 16 billion ($107 million).

EcoNaviSta has developed a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for home monitoring systems used in nursing care and has been working with Eisai to harness the technology to pick up changes in cognitive function among residents in care home facilities.

The care home setting is important in Japan as, among the country's rapidly ageing population, a large number of the elderly choose to move into non-assisted living facilities – i.e. those without nursing support – or condominium developments aimed at seniors.

The collaboration has looked at combining Eisai's NouKNOW smart device-based app – which allows people to self-assess their cognitive performance and spot declines that may signal the onset of dementia – alongside EcoNaviSta's Life Rhythm Navi, which generates a health status rating from sleep and lifestyle data, and a patented dementia prediction software platform.

In 2023, Eisai launched a dedicated subsidiary company called Theoria Technologies that is developing a "digital ecosystem" to support people with dementia, built around NouKNOW, and EcoNaviSta's software will add to that effort as a "core solution," said the company. It has also partnered with Tokyo-based Lifenet Insurance Co to develop a series of insurance products specifically for people with dementia and other ageing-related diseases.

"Eisai believes that it will be possible to create pathways that will lead to the encouragement of visits to medical institutions by visualising risks using EcoNaviSta's dementia prediction AI and...NouKNOW for users of Life Rhythm Navi," said the drugmaker.

The hope is that will, in turn, lead to "early examinations, diagnosis, and treatment among sufferers with undiagnosed [mild cognitive impairment] and dementia," it added. At the same time, Eisai hopes to generate real-world data from the platform that can be used to develop new services in dementia and other disorders such as insomnia and epilepsy.