4iLabs wins CHF 150,000 to advance personalized cancer therapy options
28.10.2020
4iLabs assists clinicians in the cancer therapy decision-making process by providing them with state-of-the-art molecular assessments of their patients’ disease and pointing them toward personalized therapy options. The startup project is led by Dr. Gabriele Gut and will use the CHF 150,000 Venture Kick funding to accelerate the clinical development of 4iLabs’ diagnostic toolbox.
 4iLabs co-founders Dr. Gabriele Gut and Prof. Dr. Lucas Pelkmans
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The molecular processes underlying a patient’s cancer are often unique. Currently, next-generation sequencing (NGS) is often used to analyze the genetic information from biopsies to inform clinicians on the use of specific cancer therapies. However, even with NGS-guided therapies, patients can relapse—contributing to the long-term low cancer survival rate of around 50%. 4iLabs supports clinicians in the therapy decision-making process for patients with progressed cancer beyond the standard of care, for whom genetic testing holds limited actionable information.
The startup uses the patented 4i technology that generates highly multiplexed images of biological samples to get a deeper and more efficient molecular view of tumors than with existing processes. 4i technology (the four “i’s” refer to iterative indirect immunofluorescence imaging) assists scientists in pharma and academia and clinicians in multiple fields such as drug discovery, target identification and validation, cancer assessments, and AI-powered digital pathology efforts for biomarker discovery. The startup targets cancer-related industries that are expected to become a USD 40 billion market in the next four years. 4iLabs starts with the launch of two products: Oriflamme diagnostics report (OR) and DeepTissue Phenotyping services (DTP). The OR is a diagnostics report that provides clinicians with evidence-based therapy recommendations for each patient, based on the multiplexed molecular drug response of their biopsied cancer cells. DTP is a multiplexed tissue imaging service that, unlike others, measures the abundance and distribution of dozens of proteins at very high throughput. It is, thus, uniquely capable of studying large patient cohorts simultaneously. In conjunction with an AI-powered analysis, DTP will help to characterize drug-related tissue changes, propel biomarker discovery, and improve cancer diagnoses.
Dr. Gabriele Gut developed the proprietary 4i technology in the group of Prof. Lucas Pelkmans at the University of Zurich, and he is preparing, supported by the UZH Entrepreneur Fellowship and the InnoSuisse BRIDGE Proof of Concept program, to launch 4iLabs in early 2021. As of next year, 4iLabs will use their OR in multiple clinical trials with different European cancer centers and support hospitals and pharma companies with DTP. The startup will remain heavily focused on R&D to extend their diagnostics technology toolbox to provide clinicians and scientists with first-in-class, actionable, spatially resolved multi-omics information at scale. 4iLabs plans to use the Venture Kick funding to support their clinical trials and to expand their online presence.
“Question time during a jury session is learning prime time for me,” said Gut when asked about his experience at Venture Kick. “It is a real privilege to have a group of industry leaders scrutinize your startup, your ideas, and your thought processes. They see things from different angles and ask challenging questions, and through that, help me grow and, most importantly, improve 4iLabs’ business case.”
The startup uses the patented 4i technology that generates highly multiplexed images of biological samples to get a deeper and more efficient molecular view of tumors than with existing processes. 4i technology (the four “i’s” refer to iterative indirect immunofluorescence imaging) assists scientists in pharma and academia and clinicians in multiple fields such as drug discovery, target identification and validation, cancer assessments, and AI-powered digital pathology efforts for biomarker discovery. The startup targets cancer-related industries that are expected to become a USD 40 billion market in the next four years. 4iLabs starts with the launch of two products: Oriflamme diagnostics report (OR) and DeepTissue Phenotyping services (DTP). The OR is a diagnostics report that provides clinicians with evidence-based therapy recommendations for each patient, based on the multiplexed molecular drug response of their biopsied cancer cells. DTP is a multiplexed tissue imaging service that, unlike others, measures the abundance and distribution of dozens of proteins at very high throughput. It is, thus, uniquely capable of studying large patient cohorts simultaneously. In conjunction with an AI-powered analysis, DTP will help to characterize drug-related tissue changes, propel biomarker discovery, and improve cancer diagnoses.
Dr. Gabriele Gut developed the proprietary 4i technology in the group of Prof. Lucas Pelkmans at the University of Zurich, and he is preparing, supported by the UZH Entrepreneur Fellowship and the InnoSuisse BRIDGE Proof of Concept program, to launch 4iLabs in early 2021. As of next year, 4iLabs will use their OR in multiple clinical trials with different European cancer centers and support hospitals and pharma companies with DTP. The startup will remain heavily focused on R&D to extend their diagnostics technology toolbox to provide clinicians and scientists with first-in-class, actionable, spatially resolved multi-omics information at scale. 4iLabs plans to use the Venture Kick funding to support their clinical trials and to expand their online presence.“Question time during a jury session is learning prime time for me,” said Gut when asked about his experience at Venture Kick. “It is a real privilege to have a group of industry leaders scrutinize your startup, your ideas, and your thought processes. They see things from different angles and ask challenging questions, and through that, help me grow and, most importantly, improve 4iLabs’ business case.”