Incentec
Description/aims
Incentec Ltd is developing the first diagnostic test for predicting pre-eclampsia - one of the biggest causes of mother and baby deaths worldwide.
Complicating almost one in 10 pregnancies, pre-eclampsia is a placental disorder which can lead an expectant woman to suffer a stroke or to go into a coma. The only definitive treatment is premature delivery of the baby by caesarian, a tricky procedure bringing its own risks to mother and child.
Currently, healthcare professionals diagnose pre-eclampsia by eliminating all other possible causes of symptoms, such as high blood pressure, which manifest themselves in the later stages of pregnancy.
But that means some women remain undiagnosed while others are placed under needless – and costly - close observation.
“Early diagnosis buys valuable time in which the mothers’ symptoms can be treated and reduced, delaying the need for pre-term delivery and giving both mother and baby a better chance of survival,” says Incentec’s CEO Dr Sanjeev Gogna.
Why we invested
Inspired by gynaecologist and obstetrician Dr Manu Vatish, Incentec is working towards a significant break-through in the treatment of pre-eclampsia, which continues to claim 65,000 deaths a year in the developed world alone.
Their innovation meets a huge medical need for an accurate, inexpensive and simple test to predict the onset of a condition which also carries a global financial burden estimated to run into billions of dollars.
NESTA Investment Director Dr Melanie Goward said, “NESTA's investment will support development of a test that should make a significant difference to women's health.”
Impact / Benefit
NESTA is one of a number of investors to fund a ‘discovery’ phase, during which Incentec aims to identify the crucial biomarkers which indicate that an expectant mother will develop pre-eclampsia.
Results will be used to develop a kit, expected to be in the form of a blood test, which could be incorporated within routine ante-natal care from as early as 2009.
The company expects to embark on a significant funding round later in 2007, to raise the £5 million needed during 2008 to develop, manufacture and market a regulated, clinically approved diagnostic test kit.
Dr Gogna adds: “Not only will it help the eight per cent of women who do develop pre-eclampsia, but also, it will eliminate the need for unnecessary observation of the vast majority of women who enjoy healthy pregnancies.”
Written: February 2007
Summary
NESTA case study about Incentec Ltd. Incentec Ltd is developing the first diagnostic test for predicting pre-eclampsia - one of the biggest causes of mother and baby deaths worldwide.
Sector: Bio-science, Technology
Team: Investments
Location: Coventry
Investment: £150,000
Other Investors: DTI, Mercia Spinner, The Mercia Fund , Oxford VCT, Exomedica, MidVen
Website: http://www.incentec.co.uk