Canadian biotechnical startup Afynia laboratorySpin-Out of McMaster University in Ontari, picked up $ 5 million of seed financing to commercialize the blood test for endometriosis-medical condition that can affect humans, causing problems such as chronic pelvic pain and fertility problems.
Endometriosis affects almost 200 million people around the world. The diagnosis is challenging, because some women have reported that they can last for years – even decades – a doctor’s doctor and invasive tests before they get a certificate. This in turn delays treatments that could alleviate their pain or improve their chances of getting pregnant. Acceleration of diagnosis, so treatments can happen faster, is the Afyni mission.
The co -founder Dr. Lauren Foster (in the picture top left) explains that endometriosis is not a single medical issue, but a syndrome or a number of different disorders that can represent similar symptoms. Before launching, Foster was a professor at McMaster for more than two decades after his early career as a scientist.
The startup -an approach to the detection of endometriosis responds to this complexity by looking down a series of biomarkers. In particular, his technology is based on the testing of a patient’s blood to the presence of micro – small molecules playing role in the involvement or exclusion of genes.
Plate microrn
The AFYNIA -A micro test, which calls Endomir, works by looking for a plate of these molecules using an algorithm to comparison the level of the microrn expression circulating in the patient’s blood with people with surgically confirmed endometriosis to get in diagnosis.
“We have recognized that we have to cross only one biomarker and look at the board – a plate that would have greater consistency and reliability to take over endometriosis from different types of different stages of the disease,” Foster told Techcrunch.
“Biomarkers that we look at different aspects of the disease. So they could be involved in the growth of new blood vessels, are included in inflammation, are included in the new nerve growth factor or new peripheral nerve growth that is associated with pain – and thus targeting these different Parts of the disease, they do better together in combination than he does on his own. “
“We use markers that reflect these different physiological functions of the disease, but we assemble them on one panel and use our algorithm to determine if they are a risk of illness or not,” Foster adds.
She claims that a microric test is a better way to do this than other approaches-at the time attempting to detect endometriosis by testine-because traces are more stable.
Microrn’s approach also allowed the startup to find a “combination of markers that look good together” to take over endometriosis, by foster care and support understanding “which are confusing or disturbing factors.”
“Some of our competitors – it doesn’t seem to be appreciated,” she suggests.
Outside the Academy
While afynia (previously named Aima) It was founded in November 2021, Foster says that the technology of endomir test relies on a long -term research career focused on the regulation of ovarians and endometriosis – which, since about 2015, has included the microrn.
Foster was previously involved in the effort to patent biomarker protein to licensing a pharmaceutical company in Europe. But he says the process of dealing with a commercial entity that lacked the academic foundation in science frustrating. Therefore, together with their doctorate and now co -founder, Dr. Jocelyn Wessel (also in the picture above), they decided to take the IP that developed on the microrn and founded their own company with the aim of commercialization and non -invasive (in the sense that it does not require surgical diagnosis ) test endometriosis to the market.
The use of micro -based on the basis of the disease test is not new, nor does it relieve the micro -diagnosis plate – and others try to take endometriosis this approach, but Afynia believes that it has an advantage because the attack from the relationship from the relationship from the relationship already has an academic discovery. (Instead of an approach typical of many startups trying to develop a solution to shoot a commercially valuable problem that have identified.)
“I think we are really the first group to discover it as part of an academic lab, has recognized its usefulness and decided to perform the market,” says Startup Main Director, Dr. Jake Prigoff.
“It was a research career, working on it and slowly moving towards Microrn,” Foster adds, describing the “Ah-ha of the moment”, which encouraged her to leave the Academy in a commercial area. He says the peni fell after they were able to show that blinded micro -tests on patient patterns had a “very high stacking level” with what the surgeons picked up with invasive testing.
“[Those results told us] We have something that is interesting here and it’s worth chasing, “she continues.” And then it was obviously a lot more work after that, to continue exploring, perfecting, improveing the reliability of the test, sensitivity. ”
Startup refuses to discover any measuring information about the accuracy of its endomir test opposite the surgical diagnosis when we ask – saying that it wants to retain its data under the cover until it is completed through the Canadian regulatory approval procedure for the laboratory developed test (LDT).
As part of this process, it will set its own algorithm through clinical validation to show clinical validity for the intended cases of use-in-the-counter diagnosis for patients with chronic pelvic pain or infertility, for which both areas are said to be available for management. or improvement symptoms of such faster diagnosis may have tangible benefits for patients.
Prigoff says the team is convinced that the test will be able to bring the market in North America later this year – they hope that LDT will be approved in the next three months.
Canada would be the first AFYNIA TEST market – potentially as soon as this summer – with a launch in the United States, scheduled for the beginning of next year if everything goes to the plan.
Better outcome for patients?
“Average patient can wait seven to eight years to diagnose [of endometriosis]and some of them for more than a decade. And so, although we cannot quantify exactly how much reduction we can bring to these patients, we are convinced that we will be able to significantly reduce that time tape, “Prigoff adds.
The need for the patient to get their blood for the performance of Afynia’s test is one of the scalability limit. But he suggests that there is a positive aspect here in terms of patients’ trust – claiming that diagnostic efforts that focus on elsewhere (and do not require needles), say such as the use of ultrasound and analysis of the image or even testing traces of molecules in saliva can suffer from Lack of trust and among patients and clinicians who are responsible for ordering tests.
“We feel that we have somehow the best combination of factors distinguishing to be leading here on the market,” he says. “The key confidence of patients and the balance between invasive levels, if you will and accuracy. Patients believe in a blood test. And I think they are a little skeptical about things like saliva tests and, you know, reports to recording AI-Generates. And I think they are also clinicians .
Another “different factor” claims that Prigoff claims to have suggested: “We do this in a way that allows us to increase where I think some prices of our competitors will have to land – based on the technology they” re -use. “
Furthermore, as the startup continues to develop its technology micro, Prigoff also says that they hope that the test could only work with a blood drop (ie from the sting finger), rather than requires blood drawing. Although, he emphasizes that this is not yet possible.
Although endometriosis is where Afynia puts all his energy so far, startup wants to apply her approach to diagnosing other women’s health problems – with a plan to bring the microrn test pipeline to the market in the coming years. Although it remains firmly implanted on what is still coming because Prigoff says they want to handle the patents before they publicly start with additional tests.
Competitors also persecute the promise of non -invasive testing for women’s health issues include California Nexten Janeexploring using menstrual blood collected tampons for endometriosis testing and other health conditions; and DotlabAnother American player, who developed a blood test for endometriosis.
Telehealth platforms like Allara and research projects like Civic Endo They also seek to satisfy the patients with endometriosis with support to manage their states or improve the understanding of the disease.
Afynia seeds were led by Bio-Rad Laboratory, a laboratory producer, with participation from Impact American Fund, SOSV, Network Capital Angel and Gaingels.
Prior to this funding, the round Foster says that startup raised about $ 1.5 million before nose financing, with support for an earlier increase from McMaster University and some of his seed investors, including SOSV and Network Capital Angel, plus some angelic investors from Now York