Ybrain Selected for Ministry of Health and Welfare's Clinical Project on Electronic Medicine for Severe and Perinatal Depression

Electronic medicine platform company Ybrain announced on the 28th that it has been newly selected as a research and development institution for the ‘Electronic Medicine Technology Development’ project of the 2023 first phase health and medical technology R&D project announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Ybrain's transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)-based home-use electronic medicine for depression, 'MindSteam' [Photo by Ybrain]

With this selection, Ybrain will conduct a total of two electronic medicine-related research projects in the fields of demonstration support and clinical trial support. Through this, it will receive support of over 2.4 billion KRW by 2026.

The demonstration support project was selected for ‘Collection of real-world data and clinical demonstration of real-world evidence of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for the treatment of perinatal women’s depression.’ This study is designed as a home treatment using electronic medicine aimed at treating depression in perinatal women, including postpartum depression, which is a blind spot in depression drug treatment. Through this, it plans to utilize the real-world data and evidence of electronic medicine in the treatment of perinatal depression. Led by the research team of Professor Cho Hee-young from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Seoul National University Hospital, Yongin Severance Hospital, Cha Hospital Group, and others will participate, and the project will be conducted through collaboration between the obstetrics and gynecology and psychiatry departments of each hospital.

In the clinical trial support field, the project ‘Multicenter confirmatory clinical trial for expanding indications of tDCS-based electronic medicine for depression targeting patients with moderate or higher major depressive disorder’ was selected. This confirmatory clinical trial is designed to improve depressive symptoms in patients with moderate or higher major depressive disorder to expand the indications of the tDCS-based electronic medicine for depression, ‘Mindsteem.’ Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Ilsan Paik Hospital, and Bundang Seoul National University Hospital are expected to participate in the clinical trial.

Lee Ki-won, CEO of Ybrain, said, “Recently, various clinical trials through Mindsteem have shown good results, and this year we have been able to carry out a meaningful project through the Ministry of Health and Welfare.” He added, “This will be a great opportunity to further prove the safety and therapeutic effects of Mindsteem through clinical trials targeting pregnant women who have difficulty with drug treatment and patients with moderate or higher depression.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.