Niraxx Light Therapeutics Inc. believes light therapy could be a way to treat depression without the side effects.
An Irvine-based neurotechnology company is developing a first-of-its-kind product called the Brain Pacer, a therapeutic headband that emits low levels of infrared light that it says will improve brain health.
Nylax aims to “combine fashion and therapeutic medical devices” with its wearable electronic textiles, CEO Joshua Chen told the Business Journal.
“This is something that goes on people’s heads, so we don’t want it to look like a device. There’s still a stigma around mental illness.”
Nylax says the Brain Pacer has shown positive results so far in improving sleep deprivation, and it’s currently conducting clinical trials to test the device’s effectiveness in treating depression and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with results expected to be published next year, Chen said.
The company is currently raising $10 million in a Series A round to support clinical trials and the development of its online platform that comes with the device.
sustainability
Niraxx recommends that patients wear the Brain Pacer at home or in clinic for 10-20 minutes per session.
The headband uses photobiomodulation (PBM), a type of light therapy, which emits low levels of infrared light to stimulate mitochondria, improving brain function and productivity.
The items are made from washable fabric and come in a variety of colors, and Cheng hopes to expand the product line to include tracksuits incorporating PBM technology, which is already in development.
“This technology will enable the fashion industry to develop functional and more sustainable clothing,” Chen said.
Chen said Nylax is more than halfway through developing a cloud-based platform that will create personalized care for patients and automate scheduling.
The company plans to sell subscriptions to its online platform to doctors for $1,000 a month and to patients for $129 a month.
Nilax is hoping to get approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by 2027 to treat mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or depression. MCI refers to problems with memory and thinking, a condition seen increasingly more with long COVID and osempic weight loss injection, Chen said.
“Hopefully, if I had enough funding, I could choose two, but if I had to choose between them, I would choose MCI, because this is a big issue right now,” Chen said.
Previous company
Niraxx grew out of an earlier company called Nature Bright Co., which Chen co-founded with his wife, Ann, in 2001 in their Irvine garage.
Before its reinvention as Niraxx in 2016, Nature Bright manufactured light therapy devices for researchers conducting clinical studies into treating seasonal affective disorder.
Cheng partnered with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Harvard University researcher Paolo Cassano, who specializes in photobiomodulation and is a co-founder of Niraxx.
Chen was nominated twice for the Business Journal’s Innovator of the Year award in 2015 and 2016 for his work in developing light therapy products.
