AOA Dx Closes $7 Million Funding Round To Bring The First Accurate Early Detection Test For Ovarian Cancer To Market

AOA Dx Inc announced today that they have closed a $7 million funding round led by Avestria Ventures, AlleyCorp, The Helm, RH Capital, Olive Tree Capital, Tencent, and other notable investors.

The funding will be used to further develop the next generation of AOA’s ovarian cancer detection technology, AKRIVIS GD, and expand their growing team. Currently, there are no reliable ovarian cancer biomarkers that detect early-stage disease.

“It’s been an incredible journey to take AKRIVIS GD from academic research to the product development phase. The results from our peer-reviewed study are extremely promising and knowing that we are on the path to creating better outcomes for ovarian cancer patients is a huge milestone for the company,” shares Oriana Papin-Zoghbi, CEO and cofounder of AOA Dx, with me.

Data shows nearly 225,000 women globally are diagnosed with ovarian cancer annually, and over 50% of them will not survive. Ovarian cancer’s high fatality rate is largely attributed to late detection. The average time to diagnose ovarian cancer is 31 weeks even though 9 in 10 women experience symptoms early on.

Early detection of ovarian cancer has the possibility to reduce fatalities by half. In addition to the emotional and physical burdens placed on individuals who have been diagnosed, there’s a significant financial cost. The average cost of care for women with ovarian cancer in the first year after surgery is approximately $100,000, and patients bear approximately 3% of these costs in the form of out-of-pocket expenses. There are currently no available tools or methods for early detection of ovarian cancer, so AKRIVIS GD will be the first available tool to enable early detection.

In a landmark peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Precision Medicine, AOA’s technology showed over 90% accuracy for detection of ovarian cancer, including early-stage disease when 5-year survival rates are greater than 90%. AKRIVIS GD, which is a liquid biopsy assay for early detection of ovarian cancer, has shown high sensitivity and specificity, addressing an urgent market need.

Tumor Marker Gangliosides offer the new and unexploited potential for diagnosis, creating a new field of omics as the next frontier in diagnostics. Tumor glycolipids exploited for diagnosis additionally offer unique molecular targets for precision cancer immunotherapy. Preclinical studies utilizing these targets have shown promising results.

Ovarian cancer ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women, accounting for more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system. When detected early, almost 95% of ovarian cancer patients live more than five years after their diagnosis — but only around 15% of ovarian cancers are found early.

Upon being admitted to Y Combinator’s program in 2021, AOA’s team received an overwhelmingly positive response from VCs and angels supportive of their mission to give women a fighting chance at survival against this deadly disease

With teams based in Boston, New York, and London developing cancer diagnostics in the field of women’s health, this new funding will help AOA’s team of entrepreneurs and experts to further work on the innovative solution that has a real potential to improve clinical practice, help reduce patient mortality and deliver cost savings to payers.

This means that when we catch ovarian cancer early, we give women a fighting chance at survival.