Innovation by Predica Diagnostics BV improves cervical cancer screening

First investment from ION+2 innovation fund

A joint financing round from ION+2 and the Thematic Technology Transfer Medtech Fund (TTT Medtech) allows the further development of molecular diagnostic tests for different cancers by Predica Diagnostics (Nijmegen, NL). This spin-off from Radboudumc Holding has a first focus on improvement of cervical cancer screening, to prevent futile physical examinations of healthy women, saving time and costs and preventing unnecessary worries because of false positive tests. This is the first financing by the ION+2 fund, managed by Oost NL, and is the first joint investment of Oost NL and TTT Medtech. 
 
Dr. William Leenders, CSO of Predica Diagnostics and associate professor at Radboudumc: “After a positive HPV-test, scrapes are examined under the microscope for the presence of aberrant cells (the PAP-test). The PAP test is however not very sensitive and lacks sufficient positive and negative predictive power for reliable stratification of women who need treatment. This is a problem because all women with a positive PAP test are referred to a gynecologist for visual inspection of the cervix (colposcopy). Because the test that we are developing not only detects presence of an HPV, but also shows if the virus has initiated the cancer-forming process, our test result is more reliable than the PAP-test. Additionally, we can diagnose up to 750 cervical scrapes at once, making the cost-effective. In the end the test can prevent overdiagnosis and overtreatment of healthy women, resulting in lower health care costs, lower workload for clinicians and less false positive test results with associated unnecessary worries.”

Investment, a crucial step

Dr. Marco de Boer is CEO of Predica Diagnostics: “This investment is a crucial step for us. Our technology allows early detection and prevention of cancer. With that in mind, we can have big impact in health care worldwide.” Predica will perform clinical validation of the test in close collaboration with Radboudumc and other hospitals, among others in Germany.
 
Geert Corstens, investment manager Health at Oost NL: “Predica’s test can makes health care more efficient and can reduce health care costs, while taking away unnecessary worries of healthy women. This makes this a valuable investment, and we are very happy that we can contribute via the ION+2 fund.”
 
Margherita Marchetti, Investment Manager at Innovation Industries, who manages the TTT Medtech fund: “Molecular diagnostic tests such as those in development by Predica Diagnostics become more and more important for prevention, diagnostics and predicting best treatment for cancer patients. Predica Diagnostics’ technology is a ‘platform technology’, allowing future research on many other cancer types. This is an example of a highly promising innovation to which we gladly contribute via our TTT Medtech fund.”

Original source for this article