NEW YORK and SINGAPORE, June 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Fibronostics, a global leader in non-invasive, AI-driven diagnostics for NASH patients, announced today it has secured $6.5 million in funding. In addition to the financing, Sven Henrichwark, PhD, has been named the company’s CEO.
Fibronostics is a global diagnostics company, providing non-invasive, algorithmic diagnostics and insights to detect and manage organ lesions caused by metabolic diseases. The company leverages artificial intelligence to screen for liver and kidney disease, as well as other chronic conditions that cause progressive organ damage. Its lead product, LIVERFASt, is a patented neural network driven AI technology combining anthropometrics with broadly available biomarkers from a single blood draw. LIVERFASt provides diagnostic and prognostic insights of clinical relevance, and the test is easy to conduct at large scale which is crucial in the identification of very prevalent conditions such as NAFLD/NASH in metabolic subjects.
Liver disease has historically required more invasive procedures such as biopsies. Recent guideline updates from EASL recognized biopsy drawbacks and acknowledged non-invasive methods can identify advanced fibrosis in patients better than by clinical acumen alone.
“We believe Fibronostics’ technology is uniquely positioned to play a leading role in large-scale screenings, identification, and monitoring of NASH-risk patients,” said Mona Munteanu, Fibronostics’ Chief Scientific Officer. “Beyond NASH, Fibronostics’ technology platform has significant opportunities in major metabolic diseases, as a cardiovascular risk-assessment tool and as a precision diagnostic for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).”
LIVERFASt has been granted a Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code by the American Medical Association. It has begun commercializing globally and is currently preparing for FDA submission after successfully completing the data acquisition phase of its clinical trial. The company has plans to penetrate new markets and serve patients and physicians directly and through strategic partnerships.
“We are delighted to receive this funding from new and existing investors,” said Sven Henrichwark, the newly named CEO of Fibronostics. “The financing will allow us to scale our commercialization of LIVERFASt in the U.S., help develop our SaaS platform and finance the R&D of new products targeting kidney and lung diseases. This strategic focus will position us well as a leader in AI-driven innovation of in vitro diagnostic software in the coming years.”
Henrichwark is an established senior executive in the healthcare industry who has led $1 billion businesses, as well as mid-sized medical device diagnostic companies. He spent more than 10 years with GE Healthcare after working at Bay Area start-ups and at Monitor Deloitte. He has also served as the CEO of Echosens.
SOURCE Fibronostics