Syntropic Medical, a medical device company spun out of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) by Mark Caffrey, Jack O’Keeffe, Dr. Alessandro Venturino, and Prof. Sandra Siegert, has raised a 7-figure amount from xista science ventures and aws (the promotional bank of the Austrian federal government) to further develop a pioneering non-invasive and non-pharmaceutical treatment for mental health disorders.
Founded in 2023, Syntropic Medical’s unique light based brain stimulation device is based on a light stimulation protocol, discovered by the Siegert Group at ISTA. Their brain stimulation promotes microglia-mediated neuroplasticity, thereby opening up new avenues for treatment of a range of mental health disorders, such as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). With this, Syntropic aims to provide a new treatment option for patients who have failed to achieve an adequate response from traditional pharmaceutical therapies.
“Approximately 70% of patients taking pharmaceutical antidepressants do not achieve remission and up to 25% stop taking them due to severe side effects. Unfortunately, these numbers are not good enough. It is therefore crucial that we begin to develop entirely new ways to treat these disorders. This is why the discoveries of Dr. Venturino and Prof. Siegert are so exciting, as they open up the potential for a completely new treatment modality that is free of side effects and simple for patients to use,” explained Mark Caffrey, Syntropic Medical CEO.
“By developing a neuromodulation-based approach for mental health disorders Syntropic Medical is addressing a market with a pressing need and significant potential. We are excited to partner with this ambitious team in commercializing the promising and innovative discoveries made at the Siegert Lab at ISTA,” added Florian Resch, Managing Partner at xista science ventures.
