UPDATE: The winner of the programme has been announced – huge congratulations to MetaGuideX. MetaGuideX are developing new cancer diagnostics, giving novel insights to cancer metastasis. Read more about MetaGuideX in this case study.
On 27 November, eight innovative start-ups from the Oxford AHSN Accelerator, delivered by BioCity presented their progress and their pitches for future investment to a panel of experts from Oxford AHSN, BioCity and industry.
Their pitches were the culmination of the second Oxford AHSN Accelerator programme, delivered by BioCity. The panel will now decide which of the ventures offers the strongest solution to the proven NHS and UK life science’s needs.
The wide-ranging innovations relate to early cancer diagnosis, remote monitoring and diagnostics, digital health and service delivery. Over the eight-week programme the cohort tested their concepts with expert mentors from industry, investment, and healthcare worlds. Due to restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s programme ran entirely virtually with sessions and online support provided by the BioCity platform.
Dr Paul Durrands, Chief Operating Officer of the Oxford AHSN, said: “In a challenging year for all innovators, it is testament to the commitment and hard work of all the companies that they’ve successfully completed this second Oxford AHSN Accelerator Programme. The progress that each company made over the programme, in an entirely virtual environment, was amazing to see.”
Toby Reid, BioCity CEO, said: “The ventures which took part in the Accelerator programme were of the highest calibre. Our partnership with Oxford AHSN is based upon a shared goal of supporting life science innovation at a regional level; MetaGuideX is a fantastic example of such innovation. We are very pleased to support MetaGuideX as they continue their business development journey and to see what the future holds for this promising new venture.”
MetaGuideX’s CEO Dr Ryan Pink said: “We were confident that MetaGuideX had a diagnostic product that could improve the lives of women with breast cancer, but we were not sure of the best way to place it into the healthcare system. The Oxford AHSN Accelerator took us on an exciting and challenging journey to explore the current healthcare landscape. Thanks to the accelerator programme, we now have a better set of tools and a clear strategy on how best to position our diagnostic to maximise the benefit to both patients and their clinicians”.
We will be opening the next Accelerator programme in early 2021.