There’s a five hour window to reduce the effects of a stroke by removing the blood clot that caused it. ACES winner Brainomix has automated the assessment of brain scans, increasing confidence in diagnosis and informing treatment decisions
Oxford University spin-out Brainomix aims to launch imaging analysis software early next year that will give doctors a fast and cost-effective way of evaluating stroke damage.
The four-year-old medical technology company expects to get European CE approval of its
e-ASPECTS software by February 2015. The technology automates the process of assessing computer tomography (CT) scans of the brains of patients with suspected ischaemic stroke. This occurs when a clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain, cutting off the oxygen supply and damaging brain tissue.
Early treatment, either with drugs that dissolve the clot, or mechanical clot removal, can restore the blood flow and limit the damage. However, this treatment is only effective within the first four to five hours after a stroke occurs, and is only suitable for certain patients.
ASPECTS (Alberta Stroke Programme Early CT Score), a standardised method for assessing the damage caused by an ischaemic stroke, has been developed over the past twelve years by the co-founder of Brainomix, Alastair Buchan, Dean of Medicine and Professor of Stroke Medicine at Oxford University.
Although the technique is well-validated and in widespread use, it currently requires manual inspection of CT scans to estimate the extent of the brain damage. Making these assessments takes time and requires a high level of expertise.
Now Brainomix has automated the process of analysing CT scans, making it easier and faster to identify patients who are likely to respond to treatment with clot-busting drugs. The company was awarded the 2014 Science|Business Academic Enterprise Award (ACES) for ICT, at a ceremony at the Technical University of Berlin last week. The ACES awards were created in 2008 by Science|Business to recognise entrepreneurship at academic institutions.
Better outcomes
Brainomix co-founder and CEO Michalis Papadakis said currently up to half of the patients who should be treated for stroke are not, because of difficulty in reading CT scan images accurately. “We are developing the first imaging software which can automatically interpret CT scans of stroke patients.” This will enable hospitals to improve treatment, leading to better outcomes for patients, he said.
Buchan and Papadakis had support from Oxford University’s technology transfer arm Isis Innovation in setting up the company. Brainomix also received a start-up grant of €1.2 million from the UK’s innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board (now known as Innovate UK). In addition, the EU has awarded a grant of €50,000 for the design of a clinical trial, making Brainomix eligible to receive up to €5 million to conduct the study.
Most recently, in September the company raised €1.5 million from a consortium of investors to finance the further development and market launch of e-ASPECTS. Isis Innovation followed on in this funding round through its venture capital arm, Isis Fund.
Medical biomarkers
While e-ASPECTS is focussed on stroke, the company has ambitions to extend its analysis technique to the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. “Our vision is to become leaders in developing medical biomarkers for neurological and vascular diseases,” Papadakis said.
The company is awaiting regulatory approval, or CE marking, for medical use of e-ASPECTS in the EU, and is making plans to seek approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.
Brainomix forecasts significant commercial growth with sales to half (133) UK hospitals and 40 per cent (160) of German medical centres by 2020. It hopes to turn profitable in 2017 and to sell its software to 20 per cent of hospitals in other EU countries and 38 per cent of US hospitals by 2020.
“What gives us a unique position to commercialise this technology is that the founders of the company have a worldwide reputation in the treatment of strokes,” Papadakis said.
The technology has had “very positive response” from physicians and stroke experts in Germany and the UK, where clinical trials have been run.
Brainomix’s software can be installed on hospital servers or accessed as software-as-a-service though the cloud. The company intends to price e-ASPECTS at a €95 per treatment, putting the technique within the reach of smaller hospitals that lack the medical expertise to evaluate scans and recommend treatment in the critical hours after a stroke.
Software incubators
Hand-in-hand with the prospects for improved treatment, there is “a very strong business case” for the product, Papadakis says. “We are estimating that we are going to be reducing the time spent by the physician to interpret the scan by 15 minutes, which translates to a saving of £40 per patient,” he said. Further savings come from the fact that patients who receive clot-busting drugs will need two days less in intensive care and less expensive rehabilitation.
In addition to the legal and financial expertise that Brainomix needed to get off the ground, Isis Innovation also housed the company in its software incubator. “These are the things that are invaluable and are creating a stimulating start-up environment here in Oxford,” Papadakis said.
Papadakis urges other aspiring innovation entrepreneurs to take advantage of university incubators. “These are the best people to give you the most relevant advice as they know exactly the challenges that a new entrepreneur or researcher has to go through.”
As for his own start-up experience with Brainomix, Papadakis says, “It is a very demanding activity, it requires a lot of commitment, but it’s extremely rewarding … you can build something from the concept idea to ultimately a company that can produce a product than can change people’s lives.”
“You cannot put a particular price or describe how valuable this can be, because it is ultimately a big reward,” he added.
The four-year-old medical technology company expects to get European CE approval of its
e-ASPECTS software by February 2015. The technology automates the process of assessing computer tomography (CT) scans of the brains of patients with suspected ischaemic stroke. This occurs when a clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain, cutting off the oxygen supply and damaging brain tissue.
Early treatment, either with drugs that dissolve the clot, or mechanical clot removal, can restore the blood flow and limit the damage. However, this treatment is only effective within the first four to five hours after a stroke occurs, and is only suitable for certain patients.
ASPECTS (Alberta Stroke Programme Early CT Score), a standardised method for assessing the damage caused by an ischaemic stroke, has been developed over the past twelve years by the co-founder of Brainomix, Alastair Buchan, Dean of Medicine and Professor of Stroke Medicine at Oxford University.
Although the technique is well-validated and in widespread use, it currently requires manual inspection of CT scans to estimate the extent of the brain damage. Making these assessments takes time and requires a high level of expertise.
Now Brainomix has automated the process of analysing CT scans, making it easier and faster to identify patients who are likely to respond to treatment with clot-busting drugs. The company was awarded the 2014 Science|Business Academic Enterprise Award (ACES) for ICT, at a ceremony at the Technical University of Berlin last week. The ACES awards were created in 2008 by Science|Business to recognise entrepreneurship at academic institutions.
Better outcomes
Brainomix co-founder and CEO Michalis Papadakis said currently up to half of the patients who should be treated for stroke are not, because of difficulty in reading CT scan images accurately. “We are developing the first imaging software which can automatically interpret CT scans of stroke patients.” This will enable hospitals to improve treatment, leading to better outcomes for patients, he said.
Buchan and Papadakis had support from Oxford University’s technology transfer arm Isis Innovation in setting up the company. Brainomix also received a start-up grant of €1.2 million from the UK’s innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board (now known as Innovate UK). In addition, the EU has awarded a grant of €50,000 for the design of a clinical trial, making Brainomix eligible to receive up to €5 million to conduct the study.
Most recently, in September the company raised €1.5 million from a consortium of investors to finance the further development and market launch of e-ASPECTS. Isis Innovation followed on in this funding round through its venture capital arm, Isis Fund.
Medical biomarkers
While e-ASPECTS is focussed on stroke, the company has ambitions to extend its analysis technique to the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. “Our vision is to become leaders in developing medical biomarkers for neurological and vascular diseases,” Papadakis said.
The company is awaiting regulatory approval, or CE marking, for medical use of e-ASPECTS in the EU, and is making plans to seek approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.
Brainomix forecasts significant commercial growth with sales to half (133) UK hospitals and 40 per cent (160) of German medical centres by 2020. It hopes to turn profitable in 2017 and to sell its software to 20 per cent of hospitals in other EU countries and 38 per cent of US hospitals by 2020.
“What gives us a unique position to commercialise this technology is that the founders of the company have a worldwide reputation in the treatment of strokes,” Papadakis said.
The technology has had “very positive response” from physicians and stroke experts in Germany and the UK, where clinical trials have been run.
Brainomix’s software can be installed on hospital servers or accessed as software-as-a-service though the cloud. The company intends to price e-ASPECTS at a €95 per treatment, putting the technique within the reach of smaller hospitals that lack the medical expertise to evaluate scans and recommend treatment in the critical hours after a stroke.
Software incubators
Hand-in-hand with the prospects for improved treatment, there is “a very strong business case” for the product, Papadakis says. “We are estimating that we are going to be reducing the time spent by the physician to interpret the scan by 15 minutes, which translates to a saving of £40 per patient,” he said. Further savings come from the fact that patients who receive clot-busting drugs will need two days less in intensive care and less expensive rehabilitation.
In addition to the legal and financial expertise that Brainomix needed to get off the ground, Isis Innovation also housed the company in its software incubator. “These are the things that are invaluable and are creating a stimulating start-up environment here in Oxford,” Papadakis said.
Papadakis urges other aspiring innovation entrepreneurs to take advantage of university incubators. “These are the best people to give you the most relevant advice as they know exactly the challenges that a new entrepreneur or researcher has to go through.”
As for his own start-up experience with Brainomix, Papadakis says, “It is a very demanding activity, it requires a lot of commitment, but it’s extremely rewarding … you can build something from the concept idea to ultimately a company that can produce a product than can change people’s lives.”
“You cannot put a particular price or describe how valuable this can be, because it is ultimately a big reward,” he added.
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