Health care startup Paige has raised $45 million to diagnose cancer with the help of computer vision trained with clinical imaging data.
The idea is to use data sets related to treatment and genomics to train the company’s deep learning networks to detect breast, prostate, and other major cancers.
New York-based Paige has now raised over $70 million. Healthcare Venture Partners led the round, with Breyer Capital, Kenan Turnacioglu, and other funds participating. Paige will use this new capital to drive Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance of its products and expand its portfolio, delving deeper into cancer pathology, novel biomarkers, and prognostic capabilities.
The company will also accelerate commercial efforts in the U.S. and expansion in Europe, Brazil, and Canada.
“This influx in funding reflects the acknowledgment and recognition that Paige’s technology is ready for prime time,” said Page CEO Leo Grady in a statement. “We believe that AI will have a transformative impact on pathology and cancer care by improving pathology quality, throughput, [and] costs and by enabling new biomarkers and diagnostics. We are committed to offering these powerful technologies to hospitals around the world and helping biopharma more effectively treat their patients and bring new therapies to market faster.”
“The funding comes on the heels of a milestone year: Paige achieved the first FDA breakthrough designation for AI technology in Pathology and Oncology and later received the first CE mark in the space,” added Page founder Thomas Fuchs in a statement.
The company also grew its digital slide archive to more than 1.2 million images and is developing systems to combine digital slides with genomic, drug response and outcome information to create powerful new diagnostic solutions.
Paige continues its mission to create and deliver advanced computational diagnostics for pathologists and oncologists. These have been shown to work effectively across different slide preparation methodologies and the scanners used to digitize the images. The company plans to partner with companies like Philips to bring Paige’s technology to doctors around the world.
“Paige exemplifies the benefits of digital pathology and represents the bright future of AI-driven medical diagnosis,” said Jeff Lightcap of Healthcare Venture Partners, in a statement. “As hospitals embark on digital transformations, they will face challenges associated with these transitions. We believe Paige addresses many of these issues by enhancing the ability of clinical teams and pathologists to collaborate. We’re confident in Paige’s future and believe they will continue to develop cutting-edge technologies that enable pathology departments to transform their practices, which have changed little in the last century.”
“We applaud Paige’s commitment to building clinical AI products that will improve the diagnostic process and patient care,” added Jim Breyer of Breyer Capital, in a statement. “This is a critical time for Pathology, as pathologists are carrying a heavier workload than ever before. Paige understands their needs, and the team has built cutting-edge technologies to address them. Paige represents the future of computational pathology, and we look forward to their continued growth and success.”
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