Press release

Zurich, 27 April 2020

Klenico AG

Successful market entry: Swiss start-up helps people suffering from mental health issues to find the best possible treatment online during the coronavirus crisis

COVID-19 presents a considerable challenge when it comes to treating patients suffering from mental illnesses, in particular. Direct contact with doctors is limited, existing conditions can be exacerbated, and indeed, new issues can emerge, too. The Zurich-based company Klenico AG is assisting patients and professionals alike thanks to a scientific innovation: it has developed data-based online software that works like an X-ray machine for mental illnesses.

Klenico's certified system offers the ideal tool for meeting increased demand for online treatment by providing psychiatrists, psychologists and general practitioners with top-notch support for caring for patients from home. The software's sophisticated algorithms are ultra-complex, but the system is a doddle to use in practice: patients take structured online surveys, which are then sent to the attending specialists who review the surveys' findings and cross-check them with their knowledge and experience. This enables patients' symptoms to be monitored regularly and efficiently - offering considerable additional benefits compared to mere telephone or video consultations.

Online surveys on your mobile phone

Klenico is introducing a further innovation during the coronavirus crisis: from now on, patients can complete the online survey on their mobile phones. In addition, it is now even easier for doctors to share the Klenico symptom maps (which make symptoms visible at a glance) with patients receiving telemedical treatment.

Klenico propels psychiatry into the digital age

Klenico's system covers more than 400 symptoms in line with international standards, thereby enabling symptom patterns to be comprehensively and digitally recorded on a scientific basis. "Klenico represents a major step forward in psychiatric diagnostics, and only precise diagnostics can lead to successfully targeted treatment," says Professor Achim Haug, a well-known specialist for psychiatry and psychotherapy and a member of Klenico's board of directors. "As a doctor, I work with a diagnosis," says Albrecht Seiler, head physician at the SGM Langenthal Klinik. "Klenico broadens my field of vision and shows me the diverse forms that each individual complaint can take."

Huge potential: "a solution for 790 million people"

Swissmedic approved Klenico's software as a medical device in autumn 2019. The number of patients benefiting from the surge in digitisation in the field of psychiatric diagnostics is growing at a double-digit rate every month. The potential is tremendous: one in three instances of sick leave is caused by mental health issues. In Switzerland alone, 450000 patients receive outpatient treatment every year, with Germany seeing 16 million consultations. "Klenico creates the ideal conditions so that people suffering from mental illness can receive the best possible treatment. In turn, this enables us to provide an efficient solution to a problem that affects 790 million people around the globe," says Klenico's CEO Richard Etter.

Klenico AG, +41 44 533 13 90, media@klenico.com