Another year has flown by! We’re always looking ahead, but it’s also good to look back. In 2022, our team has grown, changed, and affected clinical research in many ways. Of course, many of our noteworthy achievements have been on ongoing research that we can’t yet announce, but we’d love to share some of our most exciting public milestones of 2022 with you!
In the first quarter of 2022… we announced a $45 million Series C financing round to accelerate the development of our digital biomarker platform. We also were delighted to announce that Dr. John Wagner joined Koneksa as our Chief Medical Officer. We also offered commentary on the FDA’s draft guidance on remote data acquisition in clinical trials. In March, Koneksa’s CMO was the keynote speaker at an FDA public meeting on multi-component biomarkers. Our presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, titled “Digital Technologies: Innovations That Transform the Face of Drug Development,” included colleagues from Regeneron and the FDA.
In the second quarter… Koneksa presented on a webinar from the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics on the topic of applying learnings from lab biomarkers to digital biomarkers. The Journal of Medical Internet Research published “Recommendations for Defining and Reporting Adherence Measured by Biometric Monitoring Technologies: Systematic Review,” co-authored by our CSO. Our CMO spoke at the FDA’s “Translational Science in Drug Development” workshop. The summer issue of Digital Biomarkers included “Considerations for Conducting ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) Clinical Trials,” co-authored by our CSO and colleagues from the Digital Medicine Society. We announced our partnership with Aural Analytics, which brings their industry-leading, clinical-grade speech analytics technology to the Koneksa platform. We were awarded not only one research grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in collaboration with Northwestern University – but then were also awarded a second research grant from MJFF for additional study study!
In the third quarter… we presented on “Leveraging Digital Biomarkers to Transform CNS Clinical Research” at the Digital Biomarkers and Clinical Measures in Neurology conference. Dr. Marie Friere – the longest-serving leader of FNIH, among her many other accomplishments – also joined our board of directors. In August, our research, “Sensor Verification and Analytical Validation of Algorithms to Measure Gait and Balance and Pronation/Supination in Healthy Volunteers,” was published in Sensors. In September, CSO Dr. Elena Izmailova’s noteworthy publication, “When Work Hits Home: The Cancer-Treatment Journey of a Clinical Scientist Driving Digital Medicine,” was published in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics. We presented a poster, “Capability of accelerometers in wearable devices for measurement of postural tremor, gait and balance, and nocturnal scratching,” at the International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology (ISCTM). And our new headquarters office at 1 World Trade in New York officially opened.
And in the final quarter of 2022… we were pleased to unveil our clinical pipeline of validated digital biomarkers and launched our Parkinson’s Disease Solutions campaign. Koneksa presented at the CNS Summit on “Advancing Digital Biomarkers in Parkinson’s Disease Clinical Trials” with colleagues from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and Aural Analytics. We launched a new company brand – and we launched our respiratory solution campaign, which provides configurable scheduling, assessment reminders, and in-app audio and on-screen coaching based on the latest guidelines from the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and European Respiratory Society (ERS). Our research, “Sensor Integration for Gait Analysis,” was published in Encyclopedia of Sensors and Biosensors to close out the year.
Our employee resource groups and other affinity and interest groups grew as well.
- The Koneksa Women’s Network met monthly for lunch to support each other, discuss and react to current events, and find new ways to increase the impact of the group beyond Koneksa. Its leadership team evolved, and the group’s plans got ever greater!
- Our LGBTQ+ group kicked off with several meetings and developed its growth plans.
- Our book club read Humor, Seriously by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, Madeline Miller’s Circe, and are currently reading The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, and had spirited, wide-ranging discussions throughout the year.
- And from music to films, sports to photography, pets to babies, our Slack has plenty of room outside of the work discussions for Koneksans to connect and share about the topics they love.
We’re proud of all of these accomplishments and connections, especially during what has been a challenging and tumultuous year in this field. But we’re proudest, this year and every year, of the work we’ve accomplished, the research we’ve helped to bring to life, and the answers and insights that our hard work has helped uncover.
We look forward to every opportunity to do more of the same with our Koneksa partners and clients in 2023 and beyond!