SBIR-STTR Award

Neurovation Labs (NL) is a biotechnology company revolutionizing the way PTSD is diagnosed and treated. NL's first product is an objective diagnostic tracer for use in brain imaging. The tracer, 18F-NVL-1, is designed to target the first brain biomarker of PTSD, discovered by co-founders Drs. Perusini and Fanselow to be a biologial cause of the disorder. NL's second product is a companion PTSD treatment for PTSD. The targeted medication will be optimized to inhibit the same biomarker, getting at the cause and not just acting as a symptom masker. PTSD is a serious mental health condition characterized by debilitating symptoms that interfere with daily life. The current ineffective diagnostic and treatment options overwhelm healthcare and cause a huge economic burden. NL is leveraging its biomarker discovery to develop commercializable products that have the potential to not only detect PTSD almost immediately following a trauma, but also effectively cure the disorder, ending the current PTSD epidemic among servicemembers as we know it. NL's dual solution to PTSD may provide great value not just to the DoD but also to the large suffering civilian population, and we can start to diagnose mental health disorders with the same precision as we do cancer.

Neurovation Labs (NL) is revolutionizing Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) healthcare. PTSD is an incapacitating disorder affecting nearly 10% of the U.S. population, particularly military and veterans. NL is developing the first-ever viable biotechnology solution to PTSD, leveraging a groundbreaking biomarker discovery to develop two novel innovations—an objective, rapid diagnostic and a precision medication targeting the root of the disorder. During Phase I feasibility studies, NL successfully gained interest from USAF/ DoD stakeholders to join their Phase II prototype effort. NL’s lead stakeholder is AFSOC, 24th Special Operations Wing (SOW); supporting stakeholders are the 59th Medical Wing, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, West Point, Navy Medical Center San Diego, and CENTCOM. During Phase II, NL will continue prototype development for both products and adapt them for defense use, including making our diagnostic portable and handheld for emergency response. To commercialize, NL identified a chemistry company partner, a retired Air Force General to join NL as an Advisor, and a private investor who intends to invest along with the Phase II award. NL’s dual PTSD solution may provide great value not just to the warfighter but also to the large suffering civilian population, ending the current PTSD epidemic as we kno