The idea that playing video games can affect your brain has been around for years. Now Boston startup Akili Interactive Labs and drug giant Pfizer are getting set to run a clinical trial of a video game to see if it can predict who’s at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. It’s all part of a trend toward using mobile apps and games to assess and improve mental health. Akili is also running trials to see if its technology might benefit people with ADHD, autism, and depression. It remains to be seen how this might counteract the effects of Facebook, e-mail, and texting every 10 seconds.
In other innovation news:
— Another week, another biotech IPO filing. This time it’s Flexion Therapeutics, a Burlington company looking to raise $86 million to advance its drugs for osteoarthritis.
— Our deal of the week is Brightcove’s $49 million acquisition of Unicorn Media, an advertising tech company. The Boston digital-media firm has been publicly traded for two years and has a market cap over $300 million.
— And lastly, what is founder Josh Boger doing since his retirement from Vertex Pharmaceuticals? Well, in addition to working with a startup and serving on the board of Vertex, he’s been doing underwater photography off the coast of Fiji. He’s even been invited to display his work at an art gallery in Lowell this month. That’s what 20 years of biotech buys you in Boston.
