Tamara Alagirova / LinkedIn
Tamara Alagirova, CEO and Co-Founder of Moncyte speaking at the HealthBIO pitching competition in Finland.
MONCYTE Health has announced the closure of a 1 million EUR seed round to fund its go-to-market strategy. The company's technology is designed to help clinicians select more effective personalised treatments for patients with high cholesterol.
The round was led by Finnish venture capital investors Inventure, Almaral, and Athensmed and included funding from University of Helsinki Funds, private European investors, and a grant from Business Finland.
Cardiovascular disease is the primary cause of death worldwide, with high cholesterol being one of most important risk factors of the disease. High blood cholesterol can lead to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques, which are fat deposits in arterial walls that can block the blood flow and lead to heart attack and stroke. Currently, a significant proportion of high-risk patients do not achieve optimal blood cholesterol levels and remain at elevated risk for cardiovascular disease.
MONCYTE Health says it has a unique proprietary technology to quantify individual differences in cellular lipid uptake and storage which contribute to high blood cholesterol and the effectiveness of common lipid-lowering drugs. The readouts are derived from white blood cells, including monocytes, which play key roles in atherosclerotic plaque formation and inflammation, linking directly to cardiovascular risk.
Precisely quantifying these individual differences enables personalised treatment strategies in combination with risk assessment which can help patients more effectively achieve optimal blood cholesterol levels faster, and thereby reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease. The technology also provides insight for pharmaceutical companies about how novel lipid-lowering drugs influence the cellular processes contributing to cardiovascular risk.
"Over 1.5 billion people world-wide are affected by high cholesterol. Our technology focuses on how cholesterol is transported and processed in human cells, and since the most important cholesterol-lowering treatments function at the cellular level, this type of technology is essential to disease understanding and identifying opportunities for developing novel drugs and personalised therapies for high cholesterol," said Tamara Alagirova, CEO and co-founder at MONCYTE Health.
"We are extremely happy to receive this funding, which will support the development of our unique diagnostic technology and can make a real difference in improving health. We believe that personalised approaches for more effective lipid-lowering therapy and better insights into how immune cells accelerate plaque development can prevent heart attack and stroke more effectively."
"Investing in MONCYTE Health was a compelling choice for us, driven by the exceptional expertise of the team and initial traction of the market. We are excited to embark on this journey together and make an impact," said Maria Severina, CEO and Founder at Almaral.
"MONCYTE Health is laser focused on high cholestrol, the leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The team, led by Tamara and CSO and co-founder, Simon Pfisterer, has spent years in Helsinki University in creating a unique technology, IP, and deep understanding in cellular mechanisms underlying cardiovascular disease progression."
Sami Lampinen, Founding Partner at Inventure said: "With this investment, we are excited to help support taking this innovative technology to the market, in close co-operation with major pharmaceutical companies and health clinics. We will leverage our strong networks to support MONCYTE Health in enhancing its global footprint and driving further success.
"We see that MONCYTE Healths innovation is a great leap in the treatment of high cholesterol, which is a major public health challenge. We invest in companies, where great health benefits meet great business opportunities, and there is a superior team capable of executing the plan, said Kustaa Piha, CEO and Founder of Athensmed."
MONCYTE Health's technology is significantly different from other diagnostic tests. Rather than quantify biomarkers which are present in blood, the company quantifies the cellular processes that affect the biomarkers. This unique insight provides the possibility to predict an optimal treatment strategy and to overcome current approaches of trying out different medications over time.
