The complexity of health and disease cannot be captured by a singular diagnostic test and therefore can’t be expected to deliver true impact. Attempting to create a paradigm shift in diagnostics development by making them 10x more effective, faster and impactful is London-based early-stage biotech company Sanome.
The health startup has raised £2 million as its first round of funding from a number of leading UK and European health tech specialist investors. The round was led by Heal Capital, with participation from Crista Galli Ventures, Selvedge Ventures, o2h Ventures, Meltwind and a number of high-profile angels, including David Cleevely and Pam Garside.
Effective rollout of home diagnostic products
The health startup has developed a diagnostics innovation engine that combines biomarkers to develop medical grade, at-home diagnostic products (IVDs) more efficiently and effectively. Most digital health, wearables and consumer biotech tools have limited medical use because it’s hard to validate them clinically. The startup’s novel approach leverages these existing technologies to develop at-home tests that are clinically validated to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Ultimately, laying the foundation for the early detection and prevention of diseases of high unmet need.
First set of IVD candidates
Sanome was founded by experienced entrepreneurs Benedikt von Thüngen, CEO of the group and Dr Marc van der Schee, Chief Medical Officer. They combine a unique set of experiences, including software, clinical, healthcare, AI/ ML and biomarker development, as well as having built and scaled multiple successful companies before, including Owlstone Medical and Speechmatics.
The investment will be used to expand the team across London, Amsterdam and Cambridge and deliver on key strategic and commercial partnerships to develop and validate the first set of IVD candidates.
Inclusivity for all in healthcare
Benedikt von Thüngen, CEO and co-founder of Sanome, commented: “Healthcare touches each of us and the recent pandemic has highlighted that at a global level. It showed the need to bring healthcare closer to people’s homes and that we need to leverage many of the recent innovations in digital health and consumer biotech to capture as many data points about human health as possible. This will transform our understanding of the human body and our approach to disease detection and management. At Sanome, we are working toward developing multiple at home health tools to drive disruption within the healthcare landscape to benefit each one of us. Our approach is about inclusivity for all in healthcare and that is at the heart of everything we do.”
Paradigm shift in diagnostics development
Dr Marc van der Schee, CMO & co-founder of Sanome, added: “The way in which diagnostic tests are developed doesn’t align with what patients and doctors need and want. A singular diagnostic test doesn’t capture the complexity of health and disease, and therefore can’t deliver true impact. Sanome will create a paradigm shift in diagnostics development by making them 10x more effective, faster and impactful.”
Making healthcare preventative and proactive
Eckhardt Weber, Partner at Heal Capital, commented: “The platform will change the way patients, providers and payers interact with healthcare. By pioneering a new model for IVD innovation, they can create medical-grade diagnostics that truly focus on solving our healthcare system’s most pressing problems. We could not be happier to be supporting this exceptional founding team on the journey to make healthcare inclusive, preventative and proactive.”
Dr. Fiona Pathiraja, Managing Partner of Crista Galli Ventures, commented: “Sanome is at the cutting edge of personalised healthcare. By providing a comprehensive biomarker platform across multiple domains, it is building a massive innovation engine. With experienced health tech, software and biomarker founders at the helm, it is one to watch.”
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