Novus Diagnostics has been awarded as 12-week mentorship with Roche Diagnostics as part of the Roche Diagnostics and Enterprise Ireland Incubator Programme 2022 to support Irish-owned and headquartered start-ups, SMEs and university spin-out companies.

The programme sought applications from organisations that are developing healthcare solutions that will impact patient care in the field of diagnostics.

Novus Diagnostics was selected as a recipient at pitch event at Enterprise Ireland's head office in Dublin, and Roche will provide the firm with access to experts across its organisation and geographies.

The mentorship programme will also include support and advice on business model development, including health economics and how to accelerate as a start-up, access to regulatory experts, and advice from sales and marketing teams on how to commercialise innovations.

Four Irish start-ups pitched in this year's incubator programme, showcasing a range of solutions and innovations aimed at improving patient outcomes.

In Association with

Commenting at the event, Finbarr Kenny, director of Roche Diagnostics in Ireland, said: "Supporting local Irish enterprises is a key element of our ongoing commitment to delivering best-in-class diagnostics for the patients of Ireland.

"We were delighted to meet with Irish start-ups who share our passion for improving patient care through diagnostics innovation and disruptive technologies, and Roche Diagnostics is proud to work with Enterprise Ireland in developing this platform for collaboration.

"Based on the candidates we have seen, we can all be excited and confident that the evolving future of diagnostics development is assured, unlocking Ireland’s potential to be a global leader in healthcare innovation.”

Alan Hobbs, high potential start-up manager for life sciences with Enterprise Ireland, added: “Programmes such as the Roche Diagnostics and Enterprise Ireland Incubator Programme have huge value, as they help start-ups to gain the support and knowledge they need to commercialise their solutions and scale globally.

"We are grateful to Roche Diagnostics for their ongoing commitment to the Irish start-up ecosystem, working together with us at Enterprise Ireland to support the Irish innovators that will help to shape the future of healthcare globally through the development of world-class diagnostic solutions.”

Dublin-based Novus develops clinical diagnostics technology. The company's first product is a rapid bedside test for Sepsis, which kills more than 11m people globally every year. Current tests take hours or days to deliver results, but Novus' SepTec product provides results in minutes, allowing physicians to more quickly prescribe treatment and potentially save lives.

The DCU-based company, co-founded by Dr Elaine Spain and Dr Kellie Adamson, was this year awarded €2.4m in funding to commercialise its product by the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator.

The other start-ups to pitch at the event were:

Atturos

Atturos is a fast-growing clinical diagnostics company developing the next generation of molecular diagnostic tests which support clinicians in making the best treatment decisions for patients. 

Based on excellent science, with patient wellbeing at its core, Atturos is developing cutting-edge diagnostic tests based on advanced targeted proteomics methods and machine learning analytics.

The pipeline currently includes tests for inflammatory arthritis, prostate cancer and diabetic kidney disease. Atturos tests provide easy to interpret scores to help clinicians and patients to make the best decisions they can providing for improved patient outcomes and treatment plans.

EpiCapture

EpiCapture is a UCD spin-out developing liquid biopsy tests for early cancer detection. The team is led by Dr Antoinette Perry, whose research passion is translational cancer epigenetics. The initial focus is on prostate and ovarian cancers.

identifyHer

identifyHer is a digital health company using wearable enabled AI to guide the diagnosis and management of perimenopause, bridging the gap between symptomatic women needing treatment and the difficulty for clinicians diagnosing perimenopause. 

The wearable sensor and AI platform is a first-of-its-kind menopausal symptom detector that will provide unique objective data on the frequency and severity of symptoms, acting as a companion diagnostic for clinicians.

This will enable them to diagnose perimenopause earlier, personalise the management of symptoms and track treatment efficiency; reducing the number of years women suffer with symptoms and allowing them to live healthier and more productive lives.

Photo: (l-r) Finbarr Kenny; Leo Clancy, CEO, Enterprise Ireland; Keith O’Neill, CEO, Novus Diagnostics; Kellie Adamson, Chief Scientific Officer, Novus Diagnostics; and Alan Hobbs.