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Umaima Ahmad, co-founder and CEO of 52North Well being, explains the corporate’s journey, its innovation and its expertise of taking part in final yr’s Med-Tech Innovation Expo.
Give us a quick overview about 52North?
52North was based in 2018 by 4 post-grads finding out a various vary of disciplines at Cambridge. Our imaginative and prescient is to enhance well being outcomes and well being fairness by reinventing care pathways for all individuals the world over. NeutroCheck is in improvement by 52North which might considerably enhance security and high quality of life for most cancers sufferers liable to sepsis.
We’ve acquired £1.3 million in pre-seed fairness funding from traders together with Cambridge Enterprise, KHP Ventures and Crista Galli Ventures, and £2.3 million in grant funding from Innovate UK, SBRI Healthcare and NIHR i4i, amongst others.
Final yr, Prof Sir Leszek Borysiewicz (chair of Most cancers Analysis UK) joined our board, and earlier this yr, we grew to become Macmillan Most cancers Help’s first ever enterprise funding.
We’ve been on programmes just like the Novartis BIOME, US Med-Tech Innovator, an innovation trade programme at Cedars Sinai Hospital in LA and have been accepted on to an upcoming programme at Texas Medical Middle which we’re very enthusiastic about.
We’re all about creating influence by means of innovation, and doing it whereas constructing the form of organisation we might be proud to see our kids working in.
You had been a part of the Begin-Up Zone and PITCH at Med-Tech Innovation Expo final yr, how was that have?
It was nice. The occasion offered a unbelievable platform to trade concepts, construct relationships, and increase our networks, and we had been impressed by the vary of matters lined within the periods. Everybody there was captivated with their work, and there was an actual sense of neighborhood and collaboration all through.
PITCH was an amazing alternative to showcase what we’re doing in entrance of a educated viewers, in addition to to listen to in regards to the thrilling issues occurring at different start-ups.
We’re grateful for SBRI Healthcare’s invite to be a part of the Begin-up Zone. It was altogether a well-organised and fascinating occasion. Additionally, we recruited anyone who we’d been chatting with however solely had the chance to fulfill face-to-face at this occasion, and he or she has since grow to be a key member of our staff!
Inform us in regards to the firm’s journey since being based in 2018?
It’s been a really thrilling and fast-paced one. Now we have been continually studying and rising, whether or not it’s been about firm governance, fundraising, recruitment, or regulation. It’s been an extremely rewarding expertise to look at our firm mature and develop.
One key achievement has been build up our staff from 1 to 13 individuals in simply two years. This has enabled us to enter into two tutorial collaborations, one with Imperial School London and one with the College of Cambridge.
We’re additionally very happy with the event of Neutrocheck, which has gone from an concept to a sketch, to an preliminary prototype, and eventually to a totally developed machine and digital platform. Now we have co-created all the things with sufferers and healthcare professionals alongside the best way, which has added to our learnings and helped us to refine our product to fulfill the wants of the consumer.
We’re enthusiastic about constructing a portfolio that can have a constructive influence on affected person care. We imagine that our firm has a shiny future, and we’re dedicated to persevering with our journey of progress and studying.
Inform us about Neutrocheck and the place the concept got here from?
My co-founder is an oncologist, who sees sufferers present process chemotherapy remedy. He noticed what a huge effect the present pathway for neutropenic sepsis had on high quality of life for individuals residing with most cancers. We knew instantly that this was one thing that we needed to resolve.
What impact can it have on stretched healthcare assets?
Introducing Neutrocheck might have a big influence on healthcare methods the world over. Within the UK, it might stop round 50,000 pointless A&E visits annually, permitting clinicians to focus care the place on those that are at-risk. By enabling the sooner identification of at-risk sufferers, it will additionally present a possibility to present early antibiotics, and thereby save tons of of lives annually throughout the UK.
What else is on the horizon for 52 North Well being?
We’re rising our digital product providing and are excited to be working with new Trusts throughout the UK. There’s most likely not an excessive amount of extra I can say, besides to say that we’re all the time as much as thrilling issues!
Anything so as to add?
An enormous thanks to Addenbrookes’ Affected person Partnership Group and to the Macmillan Innovation Neighborhood, to call only a few of the unbelievable affected person teams which have given up their beneficial time to assist us. Many former and present sufferers have contributed to the event of the Neutrocheck resolution, and we’re dedicated to delivering for them so we are able to present safer care and peace of thoughts for individuals residing with most cancers.
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