Cognetivity Neurosciences Reaches Commercial Agreement with Dubai Health Authority

The Deployment of Cognetivity's Platform Technology Across Numerous Dementia Clinics in the Region Paves the Way for Screening of At-Risk Patients on a Population-Wide Scale

VANCOUVER, BC, March 2, 2022 /CNW/ - Cognetivity Neurosciences Ltd. (the "Company" or "Cognetivity") (CSE: CGN) (OTCQB: CGNSF) (FWB: 1UB), a technology company that has created a cognitive testing platform for use in medical, commercial and consumer environments, is pleased to announce that it has reached a commercial agreement with the Dubai Health Authority ("DHA") that will see its Integrated Cognitive Assessment ("ICA") deployed across the busiest dementia clinics in Dubai, United Arab Emirates ("UAE"). The deployment of ICA in Dubai is being used by the DHA to explore the possibility of screening the rapidly growing elderly population who are at risk of dementia on a population-wide basis.

The ICA will be used in clinical care to support the detection and diagnosis of patients with mild cognitive impairment ("MCI") and mild Alzheimer's Disease ("AD"), with the goal of enhancing the early diagnosis of AD and enabling timely access to treatment. This is a priority for healthcare systems across the world as interventions are known to be most effective before the disease reaches its later stages. It is also particularly important now that the era of disease-modifying therapies for AD has dawned given that Biogen's Aduhelm was approved to treat early-stage AD by the US Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") as well as in the UAE itself in 2021.

The DHA oversees Dubai's health system and is renowned for taking an ambitious and proactive approach to delivering high-quality healthcare. The UAE's COVID-19 vaccination campaign was one of the fastest in the world and the DHA has a strong track record of harnessing cutting-edge technology, such as Babylon's artificial intelligence-powered remote consultation platform, to drive up standards in diagnosis and treatment. The DHA has made developing the elderly care system one of its priorities in recent years, having estimated the elderly proportion of the population in the UAE to rise from 6% in 2017 to 29% by 2050.

Cognetivity's ICA is well placed to support Dubai's early diagnosis efforts owing to its high sensitivity to early-stage cognitive impairment, which has been demonstrated in clinical trials and numerous peer-reviewed publications. As a computerized test delivered on tablets, the ICA is highly scalable and is suitable for rapid implementation in healthcare systems throughout the world on account of its language independence and freedom from cultural bias.

Similar screening programmes play a critical role in the fight against conditions such as breast cancer and prostate cancer, but have not been trialled for dementias in the absence of a sufficiently-accurate and cost-effective tool. Designed to overcome such limitations, the ICA bears the hallmarks of a powerful screening device for cognitive impairment that could revolutionise dementia care not only in the UAE but across the world.

"We're thrilled about this deployment," said Dr Sina Habibi, Cognetivity's CEO. "It represents a fantastic opportunity to contribute to Dubai's ambitious public health strategy and have a major, positive impact on outcomes for patients, which has always been our number-one goal. The first six months since our Middle East launch have been hugely positive. It's inspiring and encouraging to be collaborating with public health officials and clinicians who clearly recognise the need to rethink how we tackle the dementia problem, beginning with detection and diagnosis."

"It's particularly exciting that this project lays the groundwork for even larger, population-wide screening initiatives," he added. "With its relatively small size and tech-centred ethos, the UAE is the perfect environment for us to trial such programmes, which we believe we can one day bring to countries as large as the US and China," said Sina Habibi, Chief Executive Officer of Cognetivity.

Issuance of Shares, Options and RSUs

The Company has issued 106,656 common shares at a deemed price of $0.53 per common share to consultants for services provided to the Company. The common shares are subject to a statutory four-month hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws. To incentivize strong employee performance, the Company has granted incentive stock options (the "Options") effective March 1, 2022, to purchase up to 497,300 common shares of the Company to employees of the Company. The Options are subject to the terms of the Company's stock option plan and are exercisable for a period of five years at C$0.53 per share. In addition, to reward an employee for exceptional performance, the Company has granted them an aggregate of 50,000 restricted stock units (the "RSUs"). The RSUs will be subject to vesting provisions. Each vested RSU entitles the holder to receive one common share in the capital of the Company.

About Cognetivity Neurosciences Ltd.

Cognetivity is a technology company that has created a cognitive testing platform for use in medical, commercial and consumer environments. Cognetivity's ICA uses Artificial Intelligence and machine learning techniques to help detect the earliest signs of cognitive impairment by testing the performance of large areas of the brain. The ICA is currently available for clinical use in the USA, UK and Europe, with regulatory approval for other regions planned for 2022.

For more information, please visit: www.cognetivity.com or contact: [email protected] 

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Sina Habibi"
Sina Habibi
Chief Executive Officer and Director

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:

Certain statements included in this news release constitute forward-looking information or statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including those identified by the expressions "anticipate", "assume" "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "should" and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect current expectations regarding future results or events. This news release contains forward looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Such statements are based on current expectations and various estimates, factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future. The Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by law. Readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements.

The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Cognetivity Neurosciences Ltd

For media enquiries, please contact: Josh Stanbury | [email protected] | 416-628-7441