Clinically validated AI-based software that go beyond current routine pathology.

Mattias Rantalainen, CTO for Stratipath and research group leader at institutionen för epidemiologi och biostatistik (MEB) at KI och Johan Hartman, CMO at Stratipath and Pathologist at Karolinska University Hospital and research group leader at  institutionen för onkologi/patologi (OnkPat) at KI.

Mattias och Johan have received support from KI Innovations START team (and are now part of KI Innovations incubator DRIVE) and we asked them a few questions about the journey and learnings so far and the future plans for the project.

Provide a short summary of the project / finding / asset that you intend to create impact from.

We leverage Artificial Intelligence and large population representative datasets to discover, develop and deliver clinically validated AI-based software, optimised on clinical information and patient outcomes, that go beyond current routine pathology.

We improve clinical precision and reduce errors in healthcare and provide an accelerated path for pharma to identify patients who benefit from specific therapies.

Who is the future user of the product / service that you aim to develop and what impact do you foresee that your invention could have?

 Pathology departments, oncologists, pharma companies. We develop a clinical grade (CE-IVD approved) image analysis for cancer diagnostics used as decision support system.

What is the current status of your project from an impact creation / commercialization point of view?

 Currently in the phase of rising investments with the aim to reach 15 MSEK in the end of the year. Investments will be used to develop the CE-IVD approved diagnostic product with launch Q1 2022. We have so far reached a

 What steps have you taken towards impact creation / commercialization?

Recruited a CEO with significant experience of digital health start-ups (Fredrik Wetterhall) already in the early phase. Developing market plan, intense discussion with investors, collaborators, experts etc, regulatory investigations, IP-investigations, several legal investigations, successfully reaching soft funding from Vinnova, rent an office and hiring our first employee.

What are your key learnings so far in relation to impact creation / commercialization?

The learning curve has been steep. We have understood that academic research is just the beginning of getting a product to the market. The commercial development phase is complex and expensive. A strong network is very important and practical experience from the key-market is essential.