InnoSIGN: personalised cancer treatment

International investment

In early 2022, the Brabant Development Agency (BOM), together with Casdin Capital (USA), Life Science Angels (USA), and Thuja Capital (NL), invested eight million dollars (over 7.3 million euros) in InnoSIGN. In June, the company raised another 1.2 million dollars from investors Rivermount (USA), Tech Coast Angels (USA), and the InnoSIGN Management Company BV (consisting of the founders and employees of InnoSIGN). This investment round thus yielded a total of 9.2 million dollars (approximately 8.4 million euros). 

Lieven Huang, Investment Manager at BOM: “At BOM, we truly believe in this application and see a lot of potential for (oncological) care worldwide. Other technologies in this area are not yet accurate enough or have insufficient predictive power. With InnoSIGN’s technology, analysis becomes easier, faster, cheaper, and more reliable. And treatment becomes more personalised. This saves the costs and side effects of trying drugs that prove ineffective.”
 

Interest America

"There is a lot of interest in InnoSIGN in America," says Lieven. "There too, cancer treatment is a major medical challenge. Moreover, America boasts one of the largest medtech markets. Therefore, InnoSIGN opened a laboratory in Ohio in 2023, recognized by the American regulator CLIA as an official test lab. The laboratory tests tissue samples taken from patients in American hospitals, so they don't all have to come overseas here. The InnoSIGN technology will be tested and developed in America as well as in Europe in the coming years. The R&D activities will continue to take place at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven."

Further validation in America

Van de Wiel: "We are very pleased with the current syndicate of investors. We have two large and experienced American investors and two Dutch investors, including BOM. This is related to our strategy. Our experienced R&D team is based in Brabant. In this time of war on talent, we cherish that even more. We believe it is important to continue the innovation here. With local parties around us who can help us further expand our activities here. Think of BOM, but also academic hospitals and of course Philips. For commercial activities, America is very important. The American market is large and more centralized than the European. It is easier there, in terms of regulations, to enter the market with a test for clinical use. More (clinical) studies and results are needed to convince, among others, governments and insurers of the value, so that the technology is approved, reimbursed, and affordable for larger-scale application. We first go through that process in the United States. The first investment round makes that also possible. We take learnings to the Netherlands, so that patients here can eventually benefit from our technology."

BOM as Board Observer

The BOM never invests solely for the money. Lieven: “We also want to support companies with our knowledge and network, act as a sparring partner. In this case, we played an important role in forming a syndicate with management and essentially extracting the company from Philips with that syndicate.”

Since then, InnoSIGN has already made significant strides, but the company still has a few more to take. For that, the startup will need additional investments, says Lieven. “That's why BOM remains involved, as an investor and investment guide. We are constantly gauging market interest, for example with other venture capitalists, in preparation for future investment rounds. Additionally, as a Board Observer, we play an advisory role and contribute to formulating a good market strategy and business plan. The InnoSIGN team is very strong technically, but still has relatively little commercial experience. BOM can greatly assist with that. Therefore, I have regular meetings with management. Ultimately, we all have the same goal: for InnoSIGN to truly contribute to better care for patients.”
 

Testing and deployment

Since the end of September 2023, OncoSIGNal has been offered via the CLIA laboratory in the US. Selected centers are using the technology in an Early Access Program to test breast cancer samples from patients. The results are used to support decision-making in the treatment process for these patients. In this way, InnoSIGN obtains early feedback from users and generates market demand. Additionally, discussions with insurers about reimbursement are commencing. In Europe, OncoSIGNal is expected to be available for clinical use in 2026, allowing for larger-scale deployment. It is already suitable for research purposes, for instance by pharmaceutical companies.

Award-winning concept

In October 2022, InnoSIGN won a Gerard & Anton Award. The award is given annually to the ten most promising startups from the Brainport region. To give them an additional platform; because the world needs to know that these companies exist. InnoSIGN was not the only portfolio company in this list; no fewer than eight of the ten winners in 2022 are BOM portfolio companies.