Only 37% of people with depression respond to the first antidepressant they are prescribed, according to the EIC project of Genetika+, a Tel Aviv start-up now called NeuroKaire. Its test converts a patient's blood cells into neurons, a "brain-in-a-dish", exposes them to a panel of antidepressants and uses AI to rank which drugs change the neurons most, combined with genetic screening.
The European Innovation Council granted €2,499,000 towards RxMine, a €3.6 million project from June 2022 to May 2025. The final report set the aim of raising the first-drug success rate "from 37% to 79% or higher", and lists expanded trials in the US and Israel and CE-IVD, HIPAA and GDPR compliance. In September 2025 NeuroKaire launched the test in the US as BrightKaire. We found no published study reporting the response rate patients achieved with it.
Company file
- Legal entity
- GenetikaPlus Ltd, Tel Aviv; trading as NeuroKaire, with a US base in Kearny, New Jersey
- Founder and CEO
- Talia Cohen Solal
- Co-founder and CSO
- Daphna Laifenfeld
- Product
- BrightKaire blood test for antidepressant selection
- Investors
- GreyBird Ventures, Meron Capital, Jumpspeed Ventures
- EIC project
- RxMine, 1 Jun 2022 to 31 May 2025
- EIC funding
- Grant first
Where NeuroKaire Stands Now
In December 2024 NeuroKaire raised $10 million led by GreyBird Ventures, with Meron Capital and Jumpspeed Ventures. BrightKaire launched in September 2025 after the lab received certification under the US Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments; the company says it is reimbursed by several insurance plans including Medicare Part B, and blood is drawn at Quest facilities or at home. In October 2025 it agreed an R&D collaboration with Compass Pathways to test psychedelic compounds on patient-derived neurons. It publishes no test volumes or revenue.
"BrightKaire isn't just a step in the right direction towards personalized psychiatry, it's a critical leap beyond the cookie-cutter approach."
Talia Cohen Solal, founder and CEO, NeuroKaire, September 2025The Technology: Testing Drugs on the Patient's Own Neurons
The company's research used cell lines from STAR*D, a depression study in which patients' responses to the drugs are known. A 2023 conference abstract by Genetika+ authors in European Psychiatry found 359 genes that differed between bupropion responders and non-responders and 12 for citalopram, with clustering in "high agreement" with the known response. It reports no accuracy figure. The test received a CE-IVD mark in October 2022.
What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
The objective promised to cut hospitalisations by 89%, emergency-room visits by 71% and depression-related healthcare costs by 40%. The final report lists an AI model combining DNA, patient history and neurobiology, a physician interface, compliance certifications, expanded trials and coverage of "more than 30 drugs". It gives no trial results. CORDIS still lists the project as signed.
- AI prediction platformDeliveredPer final report.
- Market launchDeliveredUS, September 2025.
- 79% first-drug successNo dataNo outcome study.
- Fewer hospitalisationsNo dataNot measured publicly.
The Money
NeuroKaire is private and does not publish accounts or revenue. Besides the EIC grant and the $10 million round, it has not disclosed its total funding. The EIC award was grant first; no EIC Fund investment has been announced.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
The results of the US and Israeli trials, how often the test's top-ranked drug works in practice, how many tests have been sold and whether it is offered anywhere in Europe are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
The EIC funded an Israeli company whose test carries a European CE-IVD mark, but whose commercial launch and headline announcements are in the US. The claims that justify the test, better response and fewer hospital stays, rest on research abstracts rather than published patient outcomes.
What the project promised
A blood test raising first-drug success from 37% to 79% and cutting hospitalisations by 89%.
What the record shows
A CE-IVD mark, a US launch and a $10 million round, with no published data on patient outcomes.
The Verdict
Selling before proving
NeuroKaire turned its EIC project into a product doctors can order. Whether the test does what the project promised for patients remains unproven in anything the company has published.
NeuroKaire and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.
