An unmet need in mental health
According to the World Health Organization, approximately 280 million people in the world have depression,¹ which impacts their work, education, and relationships. Depression affects not just individuals but entire communities, making major depressive disorder (MDD) one of the leading global causes of disability with significant economic implications.
For many people, depression can feel like an endless struggle, especially as first-line therapies often fail.² The current standard of care depends on a trial-and-error approach to finding the right treatment for patients, because there isn’t a reliable way to predict antidepressant response.³
At Circular Genomics, we aim to improve upon this standard of care with a brain-derived blood biomarker approach to personalized neurological and psychiatric treatment.
What is MindLight?
Circular Genomics has developed an antidepressant response test that assists in predicting whether a patient with MDD will achieve clinical response (defined as a symptom reduction of 50% or more) to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant treatment, supporting more confident decision-making for clinicians and potentially reducing time spent on less-effective treatment options.
MindLight is enabled through the identification of circular RNA biomarkers, which are highly stable circularized RNA molecules that are enriched in the brain and can be readily detected in the blood.
On this page:
For patients:
Get the right depression treatment, faster
What do your results mean?
Your test results will be easy to read and clearly indicate if you have a high or low likelihood of responding to SSRI treatments. Based on your results, your doctor can quickly determine the best initial treatment plan for you.
Circular Genomics has created a medication response test called MindLight that can help predict if someone with depression will respond to SSRI antidepressants, the most common form of depression therapy.⁵
The current standard of care for depression treatment relies on a trial-and-error approach, which means it may take up to a year to find the therapy that’s right for you.
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With the results of this reliable test, you and your doctor can take the first step toward a personalized treatment plan more quickly, potentially reducing the time spent on trial-and-error approaches. Our evidence-based method helps doctors quickly understand whether you are likely to benefit from SSRI antidepressant treatments. Ask your doctor about MindLight to understand if it’s right for you.
Resources
Depression, also known as major depressive disorder, is a psychiatric disorder causing persistent sadness and loss of interest. It affects how you feel, think, and behave, leading to emotional and physical issues. You may struggle with daily activities and may not be able to experience joy or pleasure as before. Most people with depression can improve with the proper medication or therapy.⁶
View our MindLight Video
How does MindLight work?
MindLight is a simple blood test that can be taken at your physician’s office or laboratory patient service center.
Step 1
Consult your healthcare provider to discuss your symptoms. Once you’ve been diagnosed with depression, ask them to order the MindLight Test for you.
Step 2
Get your blood drawn at your physician’s office or local lab with the completed test requisition form provided by your physician.
Step 3
The blood sample is sent to our lab for analysis, and results are sent to your physician after 3-5 days of lab processing.
Step 4
Your physician will receive your MindLight test results and can use them to help guide your treatment.
For healthcare professionals:
Prescribe with the confidence of personalized medicine
Circular Genomics has developed MindLight, the first circular RNA-based test that predicts the likelihood of a patient responding to SSRI antidepressant treatment in cases of MDD.
MindLight is a fully validated laboratory developed test (LDT) performed in our CLIA- and CAP-accredited laboratory.
MindLight is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on an individual's peripheral blood sample that is provided to our lab using the easy-to-use MindLight kit that will be provided to your practice.
Using a proprietary circular RNA biomarker signature developed by Circular Genomics, physicians now have a novel alternative to the current trial-and-error approach used for MDD therapy selection today.
MindLight helps streamline the treatment selection process for patients with MDD. The MindLight patient report clearly indicates whether a patient has a high or low likelihood of responding to SSRIs.
Download the MindLight White Paper
Read our white paper to learn more about the MindLight Antidepressant Response Test and the impact of circular RNA in precision psychiatry.
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Download the MindLight test requisition form
Use our MindLight test requisition form to order tests quickly. Fill out the details, submit, and receive prompt results. This streamlines your workflow and ensures clear communication with the lab.
Understanding the results
A report with results of whether your patient has a high or low likelihood of responding to SSRIs will be returned via a clinician portal after 3-5 days of lab processing. If you have any questions or need further clarification, our support team is available to help.
Learn more about our EMBARC and ANTARES clinical study data for MindLight
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In the EMBARC and ANTARES studies, MindLight achieved a positive predictive value (PPV) of 77%, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 77%, where positive is defined as having achieved clinical response (≥50% reduction in HAMD-17 symptom score) by Week 8. By comparison, a study evaluating antidepressant clinical trials for FDA approval observed that clinical response rates for SSRIs averaged 41% across 36 trials.⁸
77%
PPV
more likely to respond
3.4x
Patients categorized as “High Likelihood of Response” by MindLight are 3.4 times more likely to respond to SSRIs than patients who are categorized as “Low Likelihood of Response”
Discover the science behind circular RNA
MindLight is intended for MDD patients ages 18 and up. Patients cannot be undergoing treatment with SSRIs at the time of blood draw. MindLight's accuracy may be lower in female patients with a family history of mania or bipolar disorder.
View our feature from APA TV
The MindLight Antidepressant Response Test is a CLIA-validated lab-developed test that is not regulated nor approved by the FDA.
References: 1. Friedrich MJ. Depression is the leading cause of disability around the world. JAMA. 2017;317(15):1517. 2. Simon GE, Moise N, Mohr DC. (2024) Management of depression in adults: a review. JAMA. 2024;332(2):141-152. 3. Baum ML, Widge AS, Carpenter LL, et al. Pharmacogenomic clinical support tools for the treatment of depression. Am J Psychiatry. 2024;181(7):591-607. 4. Zeier Z, Carpenter LL, Kalin NH, et al. Clinical implementation of pharmacogenetic decision support tools for antidepressant drug prescribing. Am J Psychiatry. 2018;175(9):873-886. 5. Papageorgiou G, Ibrahim EC, Maxson G, et al. A brain-enriched circRNA blood biomarker can predict response to SSRI antidepressants. bioRxiv.org. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.30.591973v1. Published May 1, 2024. Accessed June 30, 2025. 6. Mayo Clinic. Depression (major depressive disorder). https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20356013. Accessed July 1, 2025. 7. Data on file, publication pending. 8. Gaynes BN, Warden D, Trivedi MH, Wisniewski SR, Fava M, Rush AJ. What did STAR*D teach us? Results from a large-scale, practical, clinical trial for patients with depression. Psychiatr Serv. 2009;60(11):1439-1445.