Medibio Limited (ASX:MEB) has processed the first participant for its first pivotal study to validate its Circadian Heart Rate Variability technology as a depression test.
The study being conducted by the University of New South Wales and the Black Dog institute is expected to have all 80 planned participants assessed by the end of the third quarter.
It is expected to be completed with results published this year.
The study is designed to demonstrate two primary endpoints, that Medibio’s technology provides:
- The first objective diagnostic test differentiating between melancholic and non-melancholic depression; and,
- The first objective tool to determine the effectiveness of depression treatment.
Validating that the company’s CHR-V technology would represent a major breakthrough in the treatment of depression, it said in a statement.
Depression is a common illness, with an estimated 350 million people affected worldwide, and it is a major contributor to the global burden of disease.
Despite intensive research over many decades, there is still no reliable quantitative, evidence-based test for depression, or to determine the effectiveness of prescribed treatment.