Challenge
Have you ever thought about the fact how cars have changed in the past 40 years? how TVs have changed from black and white TVs to the current giant 4K TVs? how phones have changed? Well, flexible endoscopes and
interventional endoscopy and colonoscopy undergone very little changes in the past 40 years compared to these. Endoscopy and colonoscopy remain a gold standard diagnostic test to detect and diagnose several cancer types and to remove polyps and adenomas. The incidence of colorectal cancer is increasing worldwide, endoscopies and colonoscopies are gold standard diagnostic tests.
Opportunity
Colonoscopy saves lives. In a number of countries worldwide, it is recommended to have a colonoscopy at least once in every 10 years. Screening colonoscopy checks were associated with a 65% – 75% (depending on the study) reduction in risk of death from colorectal cancers. Despite all of these benefits, the number of procedures does not match the demand.
- Many abnormalities are missed with traditional scopes, with a large,
up to 30% miss rate to
diagnose cancer (depending on type of lesion and experience of the
medical professional) - Shortage of endoscopic doctors
- 2-year learning curve for young gastroenterologists
- The industry is in need of a less time-consuming solution that can
better support doctors to detect pathologies, perform endoscopies
faster with as much automation as possible
Solution
Intuescope is a spinoff of Medical University of Vienna and Allgemeines Krankenhaus Wien and developing a set of tools that makes endoscopy and colonoscopy faster and safer. The solutions Intuescope developing can be also applied in the aerospace and in other civil engineering fields.
Status
Intuescope is based in Vienna, employs 15 people, and has raised an amount of over EUR 2 million from reputable early-stage investors and family offices from 4 countries. The development is co-financed by Forschungsförderung Österreich (FFG). The company is currently developing its first product that makes endoscopy and colonoscopy faster and safer and will start clinical trials in early 2024. Intuescope has renowned medical advisors from 5 countries on two continents and cooperates with several universities and teaching hospitals in Austria and in Hungary.
Meet the team
Ronald Kefurt
Chairman and Medical Director
Gina Melchner
Venture Partner at NLC
Gina joined NLC in February 2020. As a Venture Partner, she works with a portfolio of Biotech and Medtech ventures. Gina also leads NLC’s Medtech Domain, ensuring we build impactful new Medtech ventures year after year. Gina holds a master’s in biotechnology from ETH Zurich and worked in management consulting as well as venture capital before joining NLC.