Oxford Brookes University cancer diagnostics spinout firm, MetaGuideX Ltd, wins business innovation programme
MetaGuideX, an innovative cancer diagnostics company established as a spin-out business from Oxford Brookes University, has won the 2020 Oxford Academic Health Science Network’s Accelerator programme.
The company was identified from eight start-ups as a promising solution to the NHS and UK life science’s needs with its novel breast cancer diagnostic, which could potentially save patients from unnecessary surgery and chemotherapy. MetaGuideX is now beginning to implement its business strategy and is open to investment to develop its radical new cancer diagnostic tool, which could hugely improve patient management.
The Oxford AHSN Accelerator, delivered by BioCity, guided eight innovative start-ups as they tested whether their product is a good fit for the target markets. Due to restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s programme ran entirely virtually, with sessions and online support provided by the BioCity platform and their team of mentors.
A tool to improve the lives of women with breast cancer
At the end of November, the eight start-ups presented their progress and pitched their proposals for future investment to a panel of experts from the Oxford AHSN, BioCity and industry. The MetaGuideX pitch, led by Dr Ryan Pink (CEO) and Prof Dave Carter (CSO), presented insights into how their novel breast cancer diagnostic can potentially save patients from unnecessary surgery and chemotherapy, improving patient outcomes and bringing cost savings to the NHS. MetaGuideX were crowned as the winning team.
MetaGuideX’s CEO, Dr Ryan Pink, said: “We were confident that MetaGuideX had a diagnostic product that could improve the lives of women with breast cancer, but we were not sure of the best way to place it into the healthcare system. The Oxford AHSN Accelerator took us on an exciting and challenging journey to explore the current healthcare landscape. Thanks to the Accelerator programme, we now have a better set of tools and a clear strategy on how best to position our diagnostic to maximise the benefit to both patients and their clinicians.”
A promising new venture
Dr Paul Durrands, Chief Operating Officer of the Oxford AHSN, said: “In a challenging year for all innovators, it is testament to the commitment and hard work of all the companies that they’ve successfully completed this second Oxford AHSN Accelerator Programme. The progress that each company made over the programme, in an entirely virtual environment, was amazing to see.”
Toby Reid, BioCity CEO, said: “The ventures which took part in the Accelerator programme were of the highest calibre. Our partnership with Oxford AHSN is based upon a shared goal of supporting life science innovation at a regional level; MetaGuideX is a fantastic example of such innovation. We are very pleased to support MetaGuideX as they continue their business development journey and to see what the future holds for this promising new venture.”
This news follows on from the success of MetaGuideX in the Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research (ICURe) discovery programme in March this year. They received £210,000 to spin out the technology from Oxford Brookes University and are now seeking seed investment to match fund this.
About metaguidex Ltd
MetaGuideX is a spin-out company of Oxford Brookes University, based on technology and specialist knowhow to identify novel biomarkers for cancer. A recent patent application has been made for a unique biomarker for measuring the aggressiveness of a breast cancer tumour, helping clinicians to decide on increasing, or importantly, decreasing therapy as needed.
MetaGuideX believes the management of breast cancer, which affects more than2 million new patients globally each year, is inadequate. In particular, better ways of detecting the potential for cancer to spread are needed, to allow for more informed clinical decisions.
This test could potentially be performed on the tumour itself, or on fragments of the cancer cells released into the bloodstream. This meets an unmet clinical need, and can be used at the point of diagnosis, during treatment (to see if the therapy is effective) and during remission (to see if the tumour has returned).
MetaGuideX have already won £210K in non-dilutive funding from Innovate UK to establish a spinout company in Oxford. They are now seeking private investment to drive this technology into a successful product.
About The Oxford AHSN Accelerator Programme
The Oxford AHSN Accelerator programme, delivered by BioCity, offers a unique launchpad for innovators with an idea they want to bring to market. If you have a great innovation that will have an impact on health quality outcomes, the programme can help you develop it. The Accelerator will guide you on developing your business path and help you discover fast-track routes to funding for commercialisation, scale-up and impact. Details of the 2021 Accelerator will be revealed shortly.
About Oxford Academic Health Science Network
https://www.oxfordahsn.org/about-us/
The Oxford Academic Health Science Network (Oxford AHSN) gets innovation into clinical practice to improve patient safety, outcomes and experience, and generate economic growth through collaboration between the NHS, industry and universities. It covers a region of three million people living in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire.
The Oxford AHSN is part of the national AHSN Network, linked into a unique collaborative of expertise and experience, sharing learning, pooling intelligence, and benefitting from a pipeline of emerging and proven solutions from around the country.
As catalysts for innovation, the Oxford Academic Health Science Network helps facilitate change across whole health and social care economies – to improve health, drive down the cost of care and stimulate economic growth.
About Biocity
Home to more than 200 companies, BioCity is a pioneering life science incubator and business collective, that takes a holistic approach to business support. Offering entrepreneur coaching, investment, flexible lab and office space and PAYG services within a UK-wide business collective.
Founded in 2002 by the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, BioCity originated in a former BASF Pharma research facility in Nottingham city centre.
The company has made 29 investments in early stage companies and has delivered a healthy growth in portfolio valuation. Funds are deployed from its own cash reserves and from a joint venture vehicle with AstraZeneca which BioCity manages.
In 2017, BioCity was identified as one of Europe’s fastest growing companies in the Financial Times’ FT 1000 report. The BioCity model of ‘support from inception to incorporation’ initially challenged the industry standard but quickly became the industry leader due to the unprecedented survival rates of BioCity based businesses.
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