Cerina app helping tackle mental health issues

From ballroom dance to IT, Radio Bangla Net to AI therapy- he always makes the journey look so easy and smooth (although it is not). The UK-based quintessentially Bengali entrepreneur has many pursuits and one passion- to give back to the society. Long back, his father Paritosh Dey had set an example as an artiste and one of the first Kolkatans to be an expert at Western dance. His elder brother- Peter Dey opened a school for ballroom and Latin dance called Silver Star in the heart of the city- New Market’s Lindsay Street. And now Manik Dey, literally the man with many hats, is going ahead with his entrepreneurial journey with turns and twists- as director of Ontrack Global Solutions Limited, as Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at Shikshak, an ed-tech company that connects learners with expert mentors in academia and culture, Promoter-Director, Radio Bangla Net, and more recently as an early stage investor and advisor at Cerina, a medical-grade, NHS-certified digital therapist. Speaking to Bizz Buzz exclusively, Manik Dey, the multi-faceted entrepreneur, explains how and why Cerina has grown quite close to his heart and talks about Cerina’s proposed Indian journey.

What is Cerina all about?

Cerina offers medical-grade, evidence-based, disorder-specific psychological therapy through its state-of-the-art Mobile Application. Cerina aspires to be the world's most accessible, trusted and 'human' mental healthcare app, driven by the best technology and expertise. The Cerina app is developed to provide the best mental health support by the leading experts in psychology and academia, combining this with cutting-edge technology to give its users top-quality support throughout their journey.

How did Cerina come into being?

The brainchild of Prasannajeet Mane, Cerina emerged from the CEO’s personal struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Prasannajeet comes from a small village in Western India and describes his upbringing as challenging, losing his father at just 14 years old. He started to develop severe symptoms of OCD during his undergraduate studies, leading to multiple suicide attempts. He was eventually diagnosed with OCD in early 2013 and describes his diagnosis and treatment as life-changing, altering the way he thought, behaved and learned for the better.

Prasannajeet’s own positive experience with treatment provoked a budding interest in mental health and psychology, which led him to take mental health elective courses and study brain and behavioural patterns. As his awareness of the psychology behind mental health deepened, he expanded his interest into the commercial mental health space, identifying what was on offer and what gaps existed in the market. For example, whilst there are a lot of digital support systems out there, most tend to be focused on general wellness and lack in-depth and clinically vigorous elements. Furthermore, with the UK’s supply and demand ratio regarding mental health support being devastatingly disproportionate, accessibility to engaging, interactive and humanised therapy is something that Cerina want to provide affordably.

What made you invest in Cerina?

The topic of 'Mental health' is quite close to my heart; anxiety has become a way of life in today's times, and it shouldn't be that way. Most people Cerina has interacted with in the UK have exhibited mental health issues. Since Cerina is a product of artificial intelligence, we've often seen people feel less reluctant to share their problems, perhaps because a lot of the stigma of being judged, even subconsciously, goes away when talking to an AI therapist.

How has been the response to Cerina's AI-based solution?

After successfully completing its pilot in early 2022 with promising results, the Cerina app has since started revenue generation.

Its clientele is wide-reaching and includes everything from IT Consultancy providers to Universities.

Cerina's team has done a phenomenal job in developing modern AI-powered features to aid Digital Care Delivery. Understanding their potential, Medilink Midlands awarded them an Innovation Support Grant to build AI features in the Cerina app. Cerina's team was invited to present their work at the "Neuro, Digital & AI" Innovation Summit in Lisbon (Oct 2022). Cerina is a part of the IT4Anxiety consortium (an EU-funded €6.29m project focusing on innovative digital solutions for tackling anxiety), where they frequently engage in academic collaboration/ engagements.

How would you like to market Cerina in the UK and outside the UK, particularly in India?

The Cerina app is built to tackle the global challenge of looming mental health issues; after 'Culturally Informed Translation', the entire app and its content can be deployed and utilised anywhere in the world. In addition, Cerina's team is working towards making the app available in many regional languages, including some Indian languages as well.

Cerina's current focus is on the UK market, where it is currently available to B2B clients and will soon be launched in the B2C segment as well. In the UK, Cerina enjoys a clear differentiation from its main competitors because of its focus on structured, medical grade, evidence-based care and engagement using AI-powered personalisation and humanisation of the app.

Cerina is engaging positively with many prospective B2B clients outside the UK, mainly in India, the EU, and North America. Cerina's team understands that the cultural differences between Western and Eastern countries may require a different approach to marketing the product, and Cerina's team is carefully curating a market strategy, understanding the needs of the Indian market.

Would you tap the B2B segment or B2C segment, or both?

We are currently available in the B2B segment in the UK. Cerina's built-in analytics features are coming in handy for businesses to understand the mental health-related needs of their employees. In the next phase, Cerina is aiming to launch the B2C route. As Anxiety is such a widespread problem worldwide, Cerina believes it is critical to explore every single avenue to provide care to those who need it.

What about its efficacy, certification, authenticity, etc?

Cerina's pilots have shown promising results so far. In a two-month pilot trial, participants went through all sessions of therapy content. They showed a significant decrease in both anxiety and depression symptoms within just two months of use. In addition, they showed a 25-32 per cent improvement in their general functioning. The Cerina app, as a class-1 medical device [the device has been affixed with the UKCA mark under the Medical Devices Directive 93/42/EEC as transposed into UK legislation], maintains its clinical rigour by continuous evidence generation. Its treatment pathway is developed according to the Medical Research Council's treatment model.

As part of its engagements with the IT4Anxiety consortium, Cerina is launching an EU-funded Randomised Control Trial in a prominent UK university. Understanding its evidence, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Cerina app be used in the "Improving Access to Psychological Therapy" (also known as NHS ) program in a research context.

Mental health, mental wellness being a very sensitive area, your go-to-market strategy has to be carefully crafted. Isn't it?

Although mental health has been a sensitive topic, primarily because of the stigma associated with it, nowadays, people are more open to talking about it. Cerina frequently engages with businesses in the UK by organising workshops and events that help spread information on this subject and get the conversations around this topic going on. Cerina is dedicated to tackling any stigma associated with mental health. Cerina is taking on the central problem itself by making mental health an open conversation and not a sensitive topic that is talked about behind closed doors. Any healthcare business needs to ensure quality care with minimal risk. Cerina does this efficiently because of its medical-grade nature. Cerina is not a one-stop solution for all psychological woes, but an integral part of a mental health ecosystem that makes opening-up and seeking help more accessible.

When do you think it will be made available in India?

Cerina is currently engaging positively with many prospective B2B clients in India. We’re aiming to commercially launch in India soon.

It has to be an ever developing and ever evolving product, given the area it is addressing. What kind of research and development work currently underway to develop it further?

Cerina's features' development can be divided into three major categories based on the results they are trying to achieve, personalisation, humanisation and interactivity. Cerina's AI team is currently working on conversational AI models that can assist the therapy delivery through digital channels in such a way that it is more similar to in-person therapy.

Cerina is also exploring some elements of virtual reality to aid this goal. Furthermore, research on modern AI-powered accurate mental health screenings is currently underway. It is aimed at tackling the challenges faced by traditional screening methodologies. The team is committed to making the app accessible to all individuals; features considering the needs of people with disabilities will be added in future.