The acquisition addresses urgent demand for objective Parkinson’s measures in clinical trials, reinforcing Empatica’s leadership with validated digital endpoints, and strengthening its presence in clinical care and diagnostics
Boston, MA–Empatica, a pioneer in digital biomarker development and patient monitoring using wearables and AI, announced the successful acquisition of PKG Health, a leading innovator in movement disorder algorithms and digital endpoints for Parkinson’s disease. The deal enhances Empatica’s robust, FDA-cleared wearable technology and health monitoring platform with PKG Health’s validated algorithms for movement disorder monitoring, significantly broadening Empatica’s reach and market potential within neurology research, clinical care, and diagnostics.
“PKG Health has built the largest body of clinical evidence in neurologic movement disorders using wearables,” said Matteo Lai, Empatica’s CEO and Co-founder. “By combining these algorithms with our patient monitoring platform, especially our new EmbraceMini device, we will provide the most comprehensive solution for monitoring Parkinson’s disease. We look forward to serving new patients, clinicians and researchers with state-of-the-art medical care, moving far beyond what has been possible to date.”
Validated in over 70 peer-reviewed studies, PKG Health’s algorithms on bradykinesia, dyskinesia, tremors, fluctuations, sleep, gait, and other movement-related physiological signals are deployed in over 150 hospitals and clinical sites across Europe, Australia, and the US. These measures will be exclusively available to clinicians through Empatica’s platform, providing a purpose-built, versatile solution to remotely collect and analyze high-quality movement data, streamlining research, and deepening patient insights.
“We are proud of what the PKG team has achieved and the impact our system has had for patients and physicians worldwide,” said J. Leighton Read, Chairman of the Board of PKG Health. “In Empatica we have found the ideal long-term partner: a company with world-class wearable technology, proven expertise in regulated digital health, and a deep commitment to patients. Together, PKG and Empatica will take our vision further than ever before—helping more patients in more countries live better lives with Parkinson’s disease.”
For pharmaceutical partners, the acquisition creates enormous potential to accelerate research in movement disorder trials. Despite a robust drug development pipeline for Parkinson’s, only a limited number of disease-modifying treatments reach Phase 3. Empatica’s expertise in digital biomarker development and deep understanding of modern, hybrid trial needs, enable it to enhance PKG Health’s solution with new digital endpoints and features, providing sponsors with a more holistic and versatile view of disease progression and treatment response.
Already the manufacturer of FDA-cleared epilepsy monitoring systems EpiMonitor and Embrace2, the strategic acquisition of PKG Health paves the way for Empatica to apply its legacy in building patient-centric solutions to detect and monitor Parkinson’s with speed and precision. This can lead to earlier diagnosis, more personalized treatment plans, and improved outcomes for the 10 million people living with Parkinson’s worldwide.
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About Empatica
Empatica Inc. is a pioneer in continuous, unobtrusive remote health monitoring driven by AI. Empatica's FDA-cleared platform and technology are used by thousands of institutional partners for research purposes, in studies examining stress, sleep, epilepsy, migraine, depression, addiction, and other conditions. Its flagship medical wearable, EmbracePlus, has been developed with key partners including HHS, USAMRDC, and the NASA-funded TRISH. Its latest device, EmbraceMini, is the world’s smallest actigraphy device for use in clinical care and research. Empatica is also a global leader in patient-centric wearable epilepsy monitoring.
About PKG Health
PKG Health is a pioneer in objective measurements for Parkinson’s disease with clinically validated and patented movement disorder algorithms. PKG Health leverages the world’s largest body of clinical evidence in movement disorders, to create and deliver precision medicine by accelerating the research, approval, and adoption of treatments.