Icelandic company Mentis Cura, which has developed a biomarker to help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages, opened its diagnostic center in Reykjavík yesterday.

Mentis Cura CEO Kristinn Grétarsson (left) shows the diagnostic tool Sigla to President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. Photo: Geir Ólafsson/Iceland Review.

At the opening, CEO Kristinn Grétarsson thanked his staff and research partners. After ten years of development, Mentis Cura’s diagnostic tool Sigla can be used “as a simple, quick method to diagnose Alzheimer’s and other memory loss diseases,” he said.

“It is my hope that GPs and other physicians can send their patients here for regular checkups as with other healthcare-related services,” Kristinn stated, pointing out that Sigla isn’t only a diagnostic tool but can also be used to monitor the disease’s progress.

The diagnostic center is based in the healthcare center on Álftamýri 1-5 where Mentis Cura rents two rooms, one for Sigla and the other for a diagnostic tool they’re developing for ADHD, scheduled for release next summer.

The president (far right) speaks at the opening ceremony. CEO Kristinn is the second from the left. Photo: Geir Ólafsson/Iceland Review.

At the ceremony, also attended by the Nordic ambassadors to Iceland, President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson congratulated Mentis Cura on what he called “a turning point for human understanding.”

“We all know examples of individuals who have been written off or judged because of lack of understanding of their conditions,” Ólafur Ragnar said in his speech. He commended Mentis Cura for their contribution to the international science community.

“It will be exciting to watch the impact of the diagnostic for Alzheimer’s patients and children,” the president continued. “Not least for Dorrit—although I’m not saying she’ll come to be diagnosed.”

The president’s wife Dorrit Moussaieff openly discussed her struggles with ADHD in a front-page interview with Fréttatíminn last May.

“It’s an important progress that concerns us all; we never know at what point in our lives we might need it,” Ólafur Ragnar concluded about Mentis Cura’s work.

Chair of FAAS (an association for relatives of Alzheimer’s patients) Fanney Proppé Eiríksdóttir discusses the meaning of Sigla. President Ólafur Ragnar listens attentively. Photo: Geir Ólafsson/Iceland Review.

Fanney Proppé Eiríksdóttir, who chairs FAAS, an association for relatives of Alzheimer’s patients, congratulated Mentis Cura on the opening and thanked them for their efforts.

As the company’s partner and shareholder, FAAS had moderate expectations when the project started out ten yeas ago, she said.

“Even though the thought of there not being any cure for Alzheimer’s is difficult, the progress is remarkable and early diagnostic is a matter of human rights,” Fanney stated.

“It means that patients can fight their own battles, instead of having to rely on their partners or children, take care of their own matters and retire with dignity,” she explained.

Click here to read more about Mentis Cura.

Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir/Iceland Review.