Equity Crowdfunding: Medicortex – Rapid biochemical diagnostics for brain injury
The incidence rate of head injury is increasing and, in the United States, every 15 seconds someone suffers from a new head injury. The total number is as high as the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis combined. Brain injuries occur more frequently than breast cancer or AIDS. To detect a brain injury, imaging of the head by computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be performed in the hospital, but in most of the cases the traumatic brain injury remains undiagnosed due to the lack of appropriate diagnostic tools. Medicortex has developed an innovative solution to give a quick answer to whether or not a brain injury has occurred. Medicortex was established in 2014 and is based in Turku (Finland). Medicortex’s team combines vast experience in neurobiology, medical diagnostics, bioanalytics and business administration: Adrian Harel (CEO), Marten Kvist (Board Member) and Lasse Valimaa (Head of R&D).
Indeed, Medicortex is developing a user-friendly diagnostic test to confirm or rule out the presence of brain injury soon after the accident. This rapid diagnostic test will detect precisely traumatic brain injury (TBI) and concussion. The test is going to be very easy to use, based on biomarkers detection. A biomarker can be measured in a sample of a body fluid and its concentration is altered in an injured individual compared to non-injured, thus serving as a diagnostic indicator of an injury or disease. Medicortex will use urine or saliva to be applied on a test strip. Then, a clear colored line will appear in a few minutes if brain injury has occurred. The test will also include an internal control to show, in case of negative results, that the test went well. Once the development of the diagnostic kit is complete, the next goal will be to expand the program to the development of innovative drug to halt the progression of brain injury.
Currently, no commercial products are available on the market for near-patient, decentralized diagnostics of TBI. But the market potential is huge (hospitals and emergency rooms, paramedics in ambulances, sport teams, insurance companies, etc…). With at least 10 million new TBI cases per year, Medicortex is planning 20 million tests used every year. At a retail sales price of 50€/test the potential market size would be 1.000 M€. As diagnostic tests have a relatively short approval process, Medicortex believes that a prototype diagnostic kit can be presented in two years. To further fasten the entry to market, Medicortex will outsource the approval process.
Medicortex’s user-friendly diagnostic tool enables TBI detection without electricity supply from non-invasive samples of body fluids. Furthermore, it does not require medical professionals to interpret the result. Medicortex has a competitive advantage because of its patent on a novel biomarker that they discovered (WO2016/166419). The unique molecular nature of the biomarker (not a cytokine or protein) and the fact that the biomarker can be detected from non-invasive samples of body fluids, preferably in urine or saliva, are also big competitive advantages. Thus, this innovative company could be the pioneer in the business and create a new market.
Medicortex Equity Crowdfunding :
- Investment needed: between 200k€ and 560k€
- Equity offered: between 4.76% and 12.28%
- Pre-Money Valuation : 4M€
- Price per Share : 4€, min. 125 shares.
The funds will be used to build a prototype diagnostic kit to identify brain injury as well as to optimize a compound to become a drug product. Medicortex believes that its investors should have the opportunity to exit and secure their profit at every successful milestone, at the investor’s sole discretion. Given the immense market potential, the risk-benefit ratio is extremely favorable.
Medicortex Equity Crowdfunding : https://www.invesdor.com/en/pitches/787
More about Medicortex : www.medicortex.fi