• Peter Thiel, first outside investor of Facebook, invests in London-based start-up as company announces it has raised $6m to date

1^st June, London – Ground-breaking trials run by London-based start-up Lindus Health are kicking off to find innovative treatments for conditions including tinnitus, insomnia and progressive childhood short-sightedness. Using their technology platform and machine learning to manage trials from start to finish in an industry first, the company aims to help treatments reach patients more quickly to improve and extend lives.

The news comes as the company reveals it has to date raised $6 million from investors, including from Firstminute, Seedcamp and Peter Thiel (PayPal co-founder and the first outside investor in Facebook), to accelerate their use of machine learning and data science to revolutionise clinical trials. 

Lindus Health is also announcing that it has received an Innovate UK Smart Grant (part of UK Research and Innovation) worth almost half a million pounds, with their work in machine learning and data science described by UKRI assessors as a “​​hugely valuable and game-changing project”.

Lindus Health’s pioneering technology speeds up the time it takes to approve treatments and get them to market, with their trials to date having been completed three times more quickly than the old-fashioned industry standard.

Having already delivered more than 80 trials for treatments across the US, UK and Europe, Lindus Health is next working with the global healthcare company Pharmanovia to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a treatment for patients with severe insomnia in a real-world setting – using digital technology to find hard-to-reach insomnia patients. And they will be working with Oto to run a trial for 200 people, evaluating their digital tinnitus solution against in-person therapy.

They are also partnering with Berlin-based start-up Dopavision to trial the MyopiaX treatment for children affected by progressive short sightedness. This aims to increase dopamine levels in the retina to slow the progression of the condition. 

This year, Lindus Health is also launching a trial aimed at treating and reversing Type 2 Diabetes with George Medicines and a trial aimed at reducing symptoms of menopause, with US-based Bonafide Health (parent company –  JDS Therapeutics).

Launched in 2021 by Michael Young and Meri Beckwith, Lindus Health has already worked with 20,000 patients to find new treatments for chronic conditions.

Co-Founder of Lindus Health, Michael Young, said:

“Clinical trials are the biggest bottleneck to improving human health. We’re working with high-growth companies developing the next wave of breakthrough treatments to accelerate the clinical trials process. 

“It’s fantastic to be working with the Government and industry pioneers to revolutionise clinical trials to deliver treatments to benefit patients more quickly.

“From monitoring trial data in real time to using machine learning to predict trial outcomes and make improvements to trial designs in advance, we want to simplify and accelerate the trials process and put patients first.” 

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Notes to Editors

About Lindus Health

Lindus Health is a London-based start-up, launched in 2021, that runs clinical trials three times faster than the old-fashioned industry standard – bringing ground-breaking treatments to patients more quickly. Clinical trials are the biggest bottleneck to advances in healthcare and by removing this constraint we aim to improve health for everyone. Lindus does this by using its pioneering industry-first platform that can manage a trial from start to finish.

Lindus Health has to date delivered more than 80 trials across the UK, US and Europe to tackle a range of conditions including diabetes, asthma, acne, social anxiety, major depressive disorder, hypertension, chronic fatigue syndrome and insomnia.

The company was named for James Lind, who pioneered the first clinical trial and treatment for scurvy, and co-founded by Michael Young, a former No 10 Special Adviser on Life Sciences, and Meri Beckwith, a former Venture Capitalist focused on biotech. The company has raised $6m from investors including Firstminute Capital, Peter Thiel, Presight Capital, Seedcamp, Hambro Perks, Amino Collective and Calm/Storm.