Sanome’s ‘new approach for healthcare delivery’ financed
Sanome, a “European health start-up”, has raised inaugural funding of £2million from leading UK and European healthtech specialist investors for the development of its diagnostic innovation engine.
Sanome is combining different types of biomarkers to develop engaging, useful and accurate diagnostic products (IVDs) that enable early detection and prevention of disease.
The company is developing an IVD innovation engine, which “will ultimately enable new approaches for healthcare delivery” to take up the challenge of finding new ways of identifying the causes of illness.
Building upon the widespread adoption of home testing driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, Sanome’s innovation engine for medical-grade diagnostics leverages biomarker combinations to spot disease. This model, says the company, will eventually provide “access to novel at-home testing paradigms for all”.
Sanome was founded in January by entrepreneurs Dr Marc Van Der Schee (CMO who has designed and overseen clinical trials for Owlstone Medical) and Benedikt von Thüngen (CEO, formerly of Speechmatics).
The first finance round was led by Heal Capital, with participation from Crista Galli Ventures, Selvedge Ventures, O2H Ventures, Meltwind and a number of high profile angels. The funds will be used to expand on key strategic and clinical partnerships and to accelerate employee headcount in both Cambridge and London.
Benedikt von Thüngen said: “Healthcare touches each and every one of us, and the recent pandemic has highlighted that at a global level. It showed the need for an inclusive approach to healthcare, 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.”
Dr Schee 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 10 times more effective, faster and impactful.”
The investors are suitably enthusiastic.
Dr Fiona Pathiraja, managing partner of Crista Galli Ventures, said: “Sanome is at the cutting edge of personalised healthcare. By providing a comprehensive biomarker platform across multiple domains, Sanome is building a massive innovation engine. With experienced healthtech, software and biomarker founders at the helm, Sanome is one to watch.”
Eckhardt Weber, partner at Heal Capital, said: “Sanome 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 Sanome’s exceptional founding team on the journey to make healthcare inclusive, preventative and proactive.”
