OBIO^® Supports A4i to Expand Canadian Presence Through New Partnership With Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Among patients with complex behavioural and mental health conditions, 23% face re-hospitalization within 30 days of discharge and 75% stop taking their medications after 18 months. Patient populations with severe mental illness require high patient engagement and support. To address this issue, A4i (App4Independence) offers patients an opportunity to play an active role in their care via a mobile application, promoting greater autonomy. Additionally, A4i’s clinical portal provides their care team with the necessary insights to identify the risk of a relapse, allowing for earlier intervention.

With funding support from OBIO’s Life Sciences Critical Technologies & Commercialization (LSCTC) Centre of Excellence to adopt and implement the technology, A4i has secured a contract with the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care, one of Ontario’s most highly specialized mental health facilities, which offers a range of mental health and addiction services, including specialized care for individuals living with severe mental illness. This partnership is a key milestone for A4i, as it advances commercialization and ROI demonstration in the Canadian healthcare landscape.

In 2024, A4i completed a successful evaluation at the Royal Ottawa Health Centre through OBIO’s Early Adopter Health Network (EAHN™), making the technology available for wider dissemination among network healthcare organizations interested in acquiring A4i. With this partnership, A4i is broadening the adoption of its digital platform in Canada, expanding its commercialization with hospital partners in the province of Ontario.

“By empowering people with the tools to manage their care, while giving clinicians meaningful, real-time insight, we’re solving real-world challenges to improve continuity of care, reducing relapse risk, and supporting recovery beyond the walls of the hospital,” said Amos Adler, Co-Founder of A4i and CEO of MEMOTEXT.

The implementation of the A4i technology at Waypoint will be driven by A4i’s ‘health at home’ initiative. As Waypoint covers a large geographical area, much of which is rural, patients often lack the necessary support within the community. Through the A4i app and portal, individuals with severe mental illness who are either transitioning back to the community from inpatient care or outpatients using community services, will now have another layer of support and connectivity with their care team to help them thrive.

"This milestone partnership between the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care and A4i demonstrates the real-world benefits that can be achieved when digital innovation is pursued and critical technologies are deployed within the life sciences sector," said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. "By investing in organizations like OBIO^®, our government is committed to strengthening this leading industry, ensuring that we not only build on our past successes, but lay a foundation for competitiveness and economic growth for generations to come. We congratulate Waypoint, A4i, and OBIO^® on this collaboration and look forward to seeing their combined expertise support patients and care teams across Ontario.”

"We're thrilled to harness technology to enhance our clients' recovery, with A4i offering timely resources and peer support to complement our team's care," commented Kevin Young, Vice-President Medical Affairs and Chief of Staff at Waypoint.

“The adoption of A4i's technology at Waypoint is a game changer for individuals with complex behavioural and mental health conditions, providing them with the tools and support they need to be empowered in their healthcare decisions and stay engaged with their healthcare team,” said Dr. Maura Campbell, President and CEO of OBIO^®. “We are delighted to have facilitated the evaluation and adoption of this technology through our EAHN™ and LSCTC programs.”

ABOUT:

A4i
A4i (App4Independence) is a validated mobile app and clinical portal that supports individuals with schizophrenia and complex mental illnesses like opioid use disorder. A4i offers self-management features such as AI-driven wellness detection, adherence escalations, secure peer engagement, and a patented auditory hallucination detector. Designed to scale clinical decision support and peer support, A4i predicts relapse and risk. Founded in 2018 as a spin-off from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada’s leading mental health and addiction research hospital, A4i was co-created with MEMOTEXT Corp. to empower recovery journeys for individuals facing challenges such as psychosis-related illness and opioid use disorders.
For more information, please visit a4i.me or contact Amos Adler M.Sc, CEO, A4i, amos@a4i.me

Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care
Waypoint is a fully accredited academic and teaching hospital providing specialty mental health and addiction services and geriatric services for Simcoe County, Muskoka and central Ontario, as well as forensic mental health services for all of Ontario. As a regional provider of specialized services, the hospital has an extensive range of acute and longer-term psychiatric inpatient, outpatient and community-based program to meet the diverse needs of people of all ages, cultures and identities. Through our work and our Waypoint Research Institute, our team of forward-thinking experts provides leadership to the broader healthcare system. We harness partnership, innovation and research to advance understanding of mental health and addiction and improve lives locally and around the world.

About OBIO^®
OBIO^®, a not-for-profit, membership-based organization dedicated to advancing health technology innovation and commercialization, evaluates new technologies through its Early Adopter Health Network (EAHN™), supported by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), and implements successful solutions using critical technologies through its Life Sciences Critical Technologies and Commercialization (LSCTC) Centre of Excellence, supported by the Government of Ontario. OBIO^® is engaged in strategy, programming, policy development and advocacy to further the commercialization of human health technologies, positioning Canada as a leader in the international marketplace. For more information, please visit OBIO.ca and follow OBIO^® on LinkedIn and X.