When it comes to treating a stroke, timing is key. The quicker a stroke patient is treated, the more likely they will have better outcomes.
This means that any intervention that can be made in order to speed up the process of diagnosing a stroke patient is highly sought after.
Upfront Diagnostics, based in Cambridge, is paving the way for quicker stroke diagnosis with its discovery and validation of novel blood biomarkers for the detection of stroke patients suffering from large vessel occlusion.
Upfront Diagnostics have now announced that it has received a seed funding round of £1.6 million. The investment was led by APEZ Ventures’ Medical Fund, which follows grant funding from SBRI Healthcare in partnership with the Stroke Association.
The Cambridge-based startup is one of seven companies selected by SBRI Healthcare, an Accelerated Access Collaborative initiative to receive further funding fro stroke research in partnership with Stroke Association.
Upfront Diagnostics have been awarded a grant of £799,000 to support the development and production of prototypes and evaluation before its eventual real-world implementation.
The startup states that the funding will be used in order to scale up the technology and its accuracy for identifying large artery strokes in real-world patients. The funding will also allow Upfront Diagnostics to expand its team and begin preparations for clinical approval.
Gonzalo Ladreda, Co-Founder of Upfront Diagnostics, says: “With this significant funding, we are poised to transform stroke diagnosis worldwide and make a tangible impact on patient care. Our rapid blood test has the potential to revolutionise stroke management by providing paramedics and physicians with actionable insights in a matter of minutes, enabling them to make informed treatment decisions swiftly.”
Dr Pooja Sikka, General Practitioner in the UK and Venture Partner at APEX Ventures Medical Fund, says: “I am delighted to back the Upfront Diagnostics team who started their journey in Cambridge, UK. LVOne could revolutionise the stroke care pathway globally, getting patients rapidly into stroke centres and access to interventional radiology services quickly, generating positive clinical outcomes rapidly. It can be a rare find in health tech to find an investment where you change outcomes so definitively, but this is one of them.”
Dr Gordon Euller, Partner at APEX Ventures Medical Fund, says: “We believe that our partnership with Upfront Diagnostics will make a significant impact on stroke care. We hope that with our support, they will be able to continue to innovate within the NHS and meet more patient needs. More innovations and ideas from these partnerships are needed in the future to increase the chance of saving lives.”
LVOne – Breakthrough diagnostic tech
So, what did Upfront Diagnostics receive its funding for?
Upfront Diagnostics’ LVOne is a point-of-care rapid test for diagnosing patients who are having an acute ischaemic stroke caused by LVO. With the time saved by using the LVOne for diagnosis, there could be a 20 per cent reduction in disabilities from LVO strokes. For every 15 minutes of earlier treatment, costs of over $60,000 per patient could be saved.
During recent trials, LVOne was validated on 270 patients at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary Hospital (RVI). The device is designed to identify LVO stores in the ambulance, meaning patients can be fast-tracked to a hospital specialising in thrombectomy. Within 15 minutes, the test allows paramedics to identify an LVO anywhere with very high accuracy.
This device has the potential to save more than 1 hour and 30 minutes over the current clinical pathway, billions in medical treatment costs, help to avoid disability and most importantly, save lives.
Learn more about the LVOne, here.
