Oncovision (OCV) is a technologic start-up company specialised in molecular vision, and focused on: (1) cancer diagnosis and treatment, and (2) advanced research in neurology, oncology and cardiology. Since its creation, OCV has been working in the development of molecular imaging technologies applied to health sciences. Currently it produces and commercialises two products based on Positron Emission Tomography (PET) systems: ALBIRA (system for pre-clinical research) and MAMMI (PET mammograph).
Alzheimer’s disease is the most relevant neurodegenerative disease. Worldwide, nearly 36 million people have Alzheimer’s or a related dementia which will double every 20 years to 115.4 million in 2050 (Handels et al. 2012), and in Europe affects about 7.5 million people (75% of all dementia cases) and is expected to increase up to 10.5 million in 2030, with a reported prevalence rate of 6.2% for all those aged 60 years and over.
The overall objectives of this project if to market an innovative brain-dedicated PET system to early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) based on the detection of β-amyloid biomarker in the brain using two 18F-labelled tracers recently approved by FDA and EMEA for their clinical use and to validate the clinical performance of this new diagnostic device. This new brain-dedicated PET system, targeted to Mental Disorder Units and Nuclear Medicine Units of hospitals in Europe, USA and Japan; is unique in the market and offers several advantages compared to the whole-body PET systems such as higher resolution, three times higher sensibility, a competitive price (up to three times lower), needs smaller hospital facilities, lower radiotracer dose to the patient that leads to a lesser cost to the healthcare system. Due to this improved characteristics, the new brain-dedicated PET system will help to allow an early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and other causes of cognitive decline and to use this business opportunity to ensure profitability and growth of ONCOVISION.
The expected outcomes of the business proposal are the clinical validation and commercialisation of a new brain-dedicated PET system that will push the resolution to the physical limit (sub-millimetrical scale: around 0.7 mm, voxel size: 0.3 mm3) while increasing its sensitivity three times with respect to current whole-body PET systems; and offering a competitive price, three times lower than other whole-body PET systems developed by large manufacturers.
