Gerresheimer AG and the Finnish MedTech start-up Adamant Health Oy partner up to develop a life-changing solution for millions of people worldwide suffering from Parkinson's disease. The measuring technology and platform in development will address one of the biggest impediments in treating symptoms of Parkinson's: Determining the optimal time to take symptom suppressing medication. In the future, Adamant Health's measurement and analysis technology and Gerresheimer's digital platform solution will help to determine the exact right moment for drug administration and inform patients as well as medical staff about the patient's treatment and symptom development.

The advantage for patients: The symptoms become much more stable and predictable. This allows them to live their everyday lives in a more independent, safe and satisfying way. Parkinson's disease is a progressive nervous system disorder and causes reoccurring tremors, stiffness and slowing of movement.

While it currently is incurable, medication can significantly alleviate symptoms. The disease affects approximately 10 million patients worldwide. Adamant Health is a start-up firm and a spinoff from the University of Eastern Finland. It aims at revolutionizing Parkinson's therapy based on 15 years of academic research expertise.

The company applies scientific insights to the individual analysis of neuromuscular function and motion. Gerresheimer has participated in the seed round at Adamant Health and is a major industry partner in this round. By partnering up, Gerresheimer and Adamant Health fill a gap in the therapy of Parkinson's patients.

A combination of monitoring and personalized adjustment of medication is a novelty. In the field of monitoring of the neurodegenerative chronic disease, Adamant Health already holds a unique position: The current technologies used in monitoring disease progression only collects patient's physical movement data. The sensor used in Adamant Health's solution links this function with technology called surface electromyography (EMG), i.e., the local measurement of electrical neuromuscular activity.

Parkinson's disease is caused by the death of certain nerve cells in the brain. This leads to a deficiency of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Among other things, dopamine plays a major role in controlling muscle function – and thus movement.

The aim of drug treatment is to normalize the concentration of this neurotransmitter. To achieve this, the medication must be precisely set and adjusted at regular intervals. This is made possible by micropumps such as the D-Mine pump from Gerresheimer.