OncoStem Diagnostics Wins Aegis Graham Bell Award in the Innovative Diagnostics Category

OncoStem Diagnostics, an Oncology focused company that enables personalised cancer treatment has been recognised as the winner of Aegis Graham Bell Award in the Innovative Diagnostics Category. The award is an initiative by Aegis School of Data Science to honour innovations in IT, Telecom and exponential technologies.

Aegis Graham Bell Award Certificate - OncoStem Diagnostics

Aegis Graham Bell Award is a tribute to the father of telephony and great innovator, Alexander Graham Bell. The Aegis School of Business, Data Science and Cyber Security has initiated this award to promote innovations and recognize the outstanding contributions by the innovators. This award is supported by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India; NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India is a policy think tank of the Government of India); Skill India (campaign launched by Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, the campaign is under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship); National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI), a Government of India enterprise.

Commenting on the recognition, Dr. Manjiri Bakre, CEO and Founder, OncoStem said, "We are honoured to be recognized as winners in the category of Innovative diagnostics. At OncoStem, innovation is not just an idea/concept, it's a process that we have followed at every stage of the product. This award is a huge recognition of our exemplary teamwork and we hope this award will help us in our goal to reach every eligible breast cancer patient in India via our government's universal health scheme - Ayushman Bharat. More importantly, I really hope this award given to many start-ups like ours will help India achieve its goal to become "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" as a nation.

OncoStem's CanAssist Breast is an innovative, cost effective test that can help clinicians to plan tailor made treatment for each breast cancer patient based on tumor biology.

The risk of cancer recurrence is dependent on tumor type, stage and on the biology of each patient's tumor. 'CanAssist-Breast' determines the proteomic fingerprint of the tumor. This information is then used by OncoStem's proprietary machine learning-based algorithm that stratifies patients as 'low or high' risk for cancer relapse. Patients classified as 'low risk' of relapse can potentially avoid chemotherapy and its associated side-effects while patients who are at 'high risk' of relapse would benefit from the addition of chemotherapy to their treatment regimen. Use of CanAssist Breast thus allows doctors to devise treatment plans that are in tune with the prognosis, maintaining a balance between the benefits and side effects of chemotherapy.

About OncoStem Diagnostics

OncoStem Diagnostics is a Bangalore based startup company that develops innovative multi-marker prognostic tests to enable personalized treatment of cancer patients. Founded by Dr. Manjiri Bakre in 2011, OncoStem's flagship product 'CanAssist Breast' has been in use in the Indian subcontinent for the past 3 years. OncoStem is currently working on similar tests for other subtypes of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. OncoStem has raised ~ US $9 million in funding from Sequoia Capital and Artiman Ventures. 

New Age Technology can Help Indian Cancer Patients Save a Lot of Money

OncoStem Diagnostics, an Oncology focused company that enables personalised cancer treatment, is pleased to announce the publication of a review paper on the impact of over treatment of Early stage breast cancer on patients. The review indicates that in early-stage breast cancer where the risk of relapse is very low, overtreatment can be damaging to a patient both physically and financially. To avoid this, 6 senior cancer specialists from across India who authored the paper advocate that patients opt for OncoStem's 'CanAssist Breast' a prognostic test designed to classify patients depending on the risk of cancer recurrence. Low-risk patients typically do not benefit from adding chemotherapy to the treatment regime. OncoStem's "Made in India" test is developed and validated on Indian patients and thus is most suitable. By analysing the aggressiveness of patient's tumor CanAssist Breast identifies patients who will have minimal benefit (Low-risk) or who will benefit the most (high risk) by adding chemotherapy to their treatment.

[caption id="attachment_146639" align="aligncenter" width="468"] Senior Cancer Specialist from across India have contributed to the study.[/caption]

The review paper brings out key insights on the need for a personalized approach for treating breast cancer. The oncologists who authored the paper are Dr. G S Bhattacharyya (Salt Lake Medical Center Kolkata), Dr. DC Doval (RGCI, Delhi), Dr. Chirag Desai (Vedanta, Ahmedabad), Dr. Harit Chaturvedi (Max Hospital, Delhi), Dr. Sanjay Sharma (ACI, Mumbai) and Dr. Somashekhar S P (Manipal, Bangalore). These renowned oncologists have a combined experience of 15 decades in Oncology and are key opinion leaders with many scientific publications to their names.

Commenting on the review, Dr. Manjiri Bakre, CEO and Founder, OncoStem Diagnostics said, "We are pleased by the insights provided by this team of esteemed and highly experienced oncologists. This is a great validation for 'CanAssist Breast' and the team behind the research. The benefit that early-stage patients receive from chemotherapy is usually low. Since most early-stage patients can do well without chemotherapy, this makes accurate risk prediction an all-important prerequisite for effective treatment. It is therefore necessary to find out patients with low-risk of cancer recurrence to avoid chemotherapy, given its side effects and the toll it takes on the patients' quality of life. Currently, despite prognostic tests that predict risk of cancer recurrence being widely adopted in the West, most Indian patients do not have access to these expensive tests. As a result, most Indian patients, including those who might have a 'low risk of recurrence', are often prescribed chemotherapy and consequently bear toxic effects of chemotherapy treatment that reduces their quality of life. Especially in the times of COVID-19 pandemic, taking chemotherapy in a hospital can increase patient's risk of contracting the infection. A test like 'CanAssist Breast' which can be helpful to doctors and patients determine the risk-benefit ratio of chemotherapy and plan accordingly.

There is also a huge cost to administering chemotherapy, whether paid for by the patient, insurance companies or the Indian Government. If the use of chemotherapy can be evidence-driven using a test like CanAssist Breast, then it can lead to potential cost savings to the patient, insurance companies and Government of about INR 700 crores per annum. This is especially beneficial in a country like India where the breast cancer incidence is rising dramatically."

Prof. Dr. Somashekhar S P, Chairman & HOD Surgical Oncology-MHEPL (Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore) added, "'CanAssist Breast' is backed with robust scientific background and research. It's highly accurate, well validated on Indian patients and has a short turn around time. The test stratifies low and high risk breast cancer hormonal receptor patients and avoids unnecessary chemotherapy. In addition to this, it is highly cost effective without compromising the outcomes. It can help oncologists, tailor make risk stratification and better treatment planning."

Dr. Harit Chaturvedi, Chairman, Max Institute of Cancer Care, Delhi said, "CanAssist Breast test helps in identifying the group of patients for whom chemotherapy is not helpful. We avoid the cost and side effects without compromising on the outcomes. The exorbitant cost of other tests serving the same purpose was beyond the reach of our population. 'CanAssist Breast' will lead to wide application of this knowledge and help tailor breast cancer treatment better than ever."

The burden of a breast cancer diagnosis is multifold - women experience the physical trauma of cancer treatment as well as psycho-social issues due to side-effects of the treatment. Patients and their families undergo considerable financial toxicity in terms of high treatment costs, wage loss and loss in productivity. This is especially critical in India where most medical expenditure is out of their own savings. Most families experience catastrophic payments and financial distress as a result of a breast cancer diagnosis. With early-stage breast cancer where the risk of relapse is very low, overtreatment can be damaging to a patient both physically and financially. The review paper summarizes studies from India have shown that the cost of drugs like the chemotherapy drugs used in cancer treatment account for more than 1/3rd of a patient's total cost of illness. Other than medical expenses, patients also experience financial distress to the tune of an extra 20% of cost of treatment, due to loss of income (both patient and caregiver) while undergoing cancer treatment, as well as travel and accommodation expenses incurred for treatment.

Breast cancer is not a one-size-fits-all disease. Decades of research has shown that breast cancer has clearly distinguishable subtypes that need to be treated differently. A personalized approach is required to ensure optimal treatment. Treatment can easily be de-escalated for early stage breast cancer patients using biomarker based tests that determine the risk of recurrence and guide treatment accordingly. Studies have shown that patients with low risk of relapse can safely avoid chemotherapy with no difference in survival. We now have an Indian solution CanAssist Breast that can help 70% breast cancer patients safely avoid chemotherapy. Indian patients can now take advantage of the latest in science and technology to improve their quality of life and decrease their financial burden.

OncoStem Diagnostics, founded by Dr. Manjiri Bakre, develops innovative multi-marker prognostic tests to enable personalized treatment of cancer patients. OncoStem's 'CanAssist Breast' is an innovative, cost effective test that can help clinicians to plan tailor made treatment for each breast cancer patient based on tumor biology.

The risk of cancer recurrence is dependent on tumor type, stage and on the biology of each patient's tumor. 'CanAssist-Breast' determines the proteomic fingerprint of the tumor. This information is then used by OncoStem's proprietary machine learning-based algorithm that stratifies patients as 'low or high' risk for cancer recurrence. Patients classified as 'high-risk' would have a greater probability of the cancer recurring than those classified as low-risk. This will guide clinicians in planning treatment and help patients in understanding the prognosis of their disease.

OncoStem is currently working on similar tests for other subtypes of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. OncoStem has raised US $9 million in funding from Sequoia Capital and Artiman Ventures.

Website: www.oncostem.com.

~ NewsVoir

Oncology Startup OncoStem successfully completes Validation study in European Cohort

OncoStem Diagnostics, an oncology focused company that enables personalised cancer treatment, has successfully completed its first ever single center, blinded validation study in Europe. The study, conducted in association with Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), Spain, involved retrospective validation on a set of 290 patient samples with an accuracy of 96%. The result of this study was on par with the accuracy seen in the previous studies conducted by OncoStem diagnostics. 

OncoStem’s CanAssist Breast is a prognostic test for early-stage hormone receptor positive breast cancer patients. It makes customized treatment possible by analysing the patients tumor in depth and providing a patient specific report. CanAssist Breast categorizes patients based on the biology of the tumor as either ‘low or high’ risk for cancer recurrence. This clear distinction of patients based on risk of cancer recurrence allows doctors to devise treatment plans that are in tune with the prognosis, maintaining a balance between the benefits and side effects of chemotherapy treatment.

Patients who are at low risk of relapse can potentially avoid chemotherapy and its associated side-effects while patients who are at high risk of relapse would benefit from the addition of chemotherapy to their treatment regimen.

The retrospective study performed in collaboration with VHIO, Spain was conducted on samples of breast cancer patients ranging in age from 28 to 92 years. The mean age at diagnosis was found to be 61 years and the predominant tumour size was T1 (less than 2cm tumour), in line with previously reported data on Caucasian cohorts. In India, mean age at diagnosis is about 48 years and T2 (2-5 cm tumour) tends to be the predominant tumour size. Despite these differences in the patient profile, the accuracy of CanAssist Breast risk classification in the Caucasian population was found to be the same as what was seen in OncoStem’s Indian studies (96% NPV). This suggests that CanAssist Breast test can be used across all age groups and across a broad range of clinical presentations of early-stage breast cancer. 

[caption id="attachment_135626" align="alignleft" width="300"] Dr Manjiri Bakre, CEO and Founder, OncoStem Diagnostics[/caption]

Speaking about the validation, Dr Manjiri Bakre, CEO and Founder, OncoStem Diagnostics said “We are very encouraged by the results of this study as it demonstrates that CanAssist Breast has universal applicability. This validation has taken us a step closer towards our goal to globally validate CanAssist Breast and provide patients with a world class product.”

OncoStem Diagnostics presented the validation study data at the recently concluded annual ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology) Congress 2019 in Europe.

More about OncoStem Diagnostics:

OncoStem Diagnostics develops innovative multi-marker prognostic tests to enable  personalized treatment of cancer patients. Founded by Dr Manjiri Bakre, OncoStem’s ‘CanAssist Breast’ is an innovative, cost effective test that can help clinicians to plan tailor made treatment for each breast cancer patient based on tumor biology.

OncoStem is currently working on similar tests for other subtypes of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. OncoStem has raised US $9 million in  funding from Sequoia Capital and Artiman Ventures.

OncoStem Diagnostics named ‘Best Innovation- Cancer Risk Assessment’ by NASSCOM Life Sciences and Healthcare Innovation Forum

OncoStem Diagnostics, an Oncology focused company that enables personalised cancer treatment was named as ‘Best Innovation- Cancer Risk Assessment’ by NASSCOM’s CoE’s (Centre of Excellence) Life Sciences and healthcare innovation forum(LHIF).

NASSCOM invited applications from eligible startups working in healthcare to apply for the #LHIF Startup Awards 2019. A jury consisting of industry stalwarts and healthcare professionals selected six high-impact and tech-driven healthcare startups breaking new ground in the fields of Healthcare, Lifesciences, Medical Devices, Pharma and Insurance. Startups were selected based on their innovation quotient and impact. OncoStem’s test CanAssist Breast was awarded the “Best Innovation- Cancer Risk Assessment”.

CanAssist Breast is a prognostic test for early-stage hormone receptor positive breast cancer patients. It makes customized treatment possible by analysing the patients tumor in depth and providing a patient specific report. CanAssist Breast categorizes patients based on the risk of cancer recurrence clearly as either ‘low or high’ with no grey area in between.

This clear distinction of patients based on risk of cancer recurrence allows doctors to devise treatment plans that are in tune with the prognosis, maintaining a balance between the benefits and side effects.Patients who are at low risk of relapse can potentially avoid chemotherapy and its associated side-effects while patients who are at high risk of relapse would benefit from the addition of chemotherapy to their treatment regimen.

Speaking about the award, Dr Manjiri Bakre, CEO and Founder, OncoStem Diagnostics said “We are extremely happy to receive this award and to be recognized by an eminent body like NASSCOM. At OncoStem, our vision is to develop innovative tests that aid personalized cancer therapy and improve a patient’s quality of life.  This recognition strengthens our commitment towards providing personalized treatments that are suited to a patient’s condition”

About OncoStem Diagnostics 

OncoStem Diagnostics develops innovative multi-marker prognostic tests to enable  personalized treatment of cancer patients. Founded by Dr Manjiri Bakre, OncoStem’s ‘CanAssist Breast’ is an innovative, cost effective test that can help clinicians to plan tailor made treatment for each breast cancer patient based on tumor biology.

The risk of cancer recurrence is dependent on tumor type, stage and on the biology of each patient’s tumor. ‘CanAssist-Breast’ determines the proteomic fingerprint of the tumor.  This information is then used by OncoStem’s proprietary machine learning-based algorithm that stratifies patients as ‘low- or high-’ risk for cancer recurrence. Patients classified as ‘high-risk’ would have a greater probability of the cancer recurring than those classified as low-risk. This will guide clinicians in planning treatment and help  patients in understanding the prognosis of their disease.

OncoStem is currently working on similar tests for other subtypes of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. OncoStem has raised US $9 million in  funding from Sequoia Capital and Artiman Ventures.

Bengaluru-based Oncology Focused Startup OncoStem Raises $6 Mn From Sequoia Capital

Bengaluru-based OncoStem Diagnostics, an oncology-focused startup offering personalized cancer treatment, has raised $6 million from Silicon Valley heavyweight investor Sequoia India, reported Times of India.

The funding round also saw the participation of its existing investor Artiman Ventures, a California-based VC firm which has so far pumped $3 million in multiple tranches since the company was founded. OncoStem will use the freshly raised funds in R&D to develop new products as well as expand its operations go deeper into Asia and Europe.

Founded by Manjiri Bakre in 2011, OncoStem is focused on personalized cancer treatment planning through the development of tests that try to effectively predict the chance of cancer recurrence in patients. OncoStem's first focus has been the development of CanAssist-Breast which identifies the risk of recurrence in patients with Hormone Receptor positive Breast Cancer. Similar tests in Oral, Lung, and Colorectal Cancer are under development. The company is present in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh currently.

"We will allocate the new capital to expand our presence in Asia firstly and then look into markets like Europe, Middle East etc. While expansion is a focus point, we will invest in our R&D so that we can come up with new products to follow up with our lead product. We aim to develop innovative and cost-effective tests that will help predict and assess the risk of recurrence in cancer patients, thus providing doctors with an actionable blueprint for personalised treatments," said Manjiri Bakre, founder and CEO, OncoStem Diagnostics.

The company plans to expand its presence in India and introduce tests in new markets like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore. Moreover, the company is also planning to set up another central laboratory in Singapore.

While patients can reach out to the Bengaluru-based startup directly, OncoStem also works with hospitals to develop its distribution network."OncoStem is filling a critical need gap and helping thousands of cancer patients from severe chemotherapy, its associated toxic effects and the costs involved with it. The technology and pricing can fundamentally change patient's access to such cutting edge tests, which have been prohibitively expensive in most markets globally so far," said Anjana Sasidharan, principal, Sequoia India.

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