Reportedly, there are more than 20 million strokes annually all over the world. LVOs (strokes caused by large vessel occlusion) account for 30% of the cases but are responsible for 95% of disabilities and deaths. In addition to this, strokes caused 375,000 deaths in European Union countries, and this number is expected to rise by one-third by 2035. Adding to this, traditional stroke diagnosis methods are time-consuming and involve costly imaging techniques, causing delays in treatment initiation.
This is where Cambridge-based Upfront Diagnostics comes into the picture. It has discovered and validated novel blood biomarkers for the detection of stroke patients suffering from large vessel occlusion.
Closes seed investment round
Now, Upfront Diagnostics has announced a seed funding round of £1.6 million. The investment was led by APEX Ventures’ Medical Fund, following grant funding from SBRI Healthcare in partnership with Stroke Association.
Upfront Diagnostics is one of the seven companies selected by SBRI Healthcare, an Accelerated Access Collaborative initiative to receive further funding for stroke research in partnership with Stroke Association. The company has been awarded a grant of £799,000 to support the development of prototypes and evaluation before real-world implementation
The seed funding will be used to scale up the technology and its accuracy for identifying large artery strokes in real-world patients. Upfront Diagnostics will also expand its team and prepare for clinical approval.
Gonzalo Ladreda, Co-Founder of Upfront Diagnostics, said, “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, commented, “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, commented, “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, a blood-based diagnostic tech
Upfront Diagnostics (previously known as Pockit) was founded in 2017 by a group of the University of Cambridge students – Gonzalo Ladreda, Dr. Edoardo Gaude, Marcos Ladreda, and Dr. Joshua Bernstock.
Upfront Diagnostics’ LVOne is a point-of-care rapid test for identifying patients suffering an acute ischaemic stroke caused by LVO. With a time-saving difference in early diagnosis, there could be a 20% reduction in disabilities from LVO strokes. For every 15 minutes of earlier treatment, there is a cost-saving of over $60,000 per patient.
LVOne was validated on 270 patients at the Royal Victoria Infirmary Hospital in Newcastle, UK, and it is designed to identify LVO strokes in the ambulance so that patients can be fast-tracked to a thrombectomy-specialized hospital for treatment. Within 15 minutes, the test allows paramedics to identify an LVO anywhere with very high accuracy.
With Upfront Diagnostics’ biomarkers with a handheld blood test, paramedics are able to recognise LVO stroke cases within 15 minutes and take patients directly to a comprehensive stroke centre for treatment. It saves more than 1 hour and 30 minutes over the current clinical pathway, billions in medical treatment costs, helps avoid disabilities, and saves lives.
