HeroSupport wins CHF 150,000 to improve cancer treatment universal access with tailored patient-positioning medical devices and standardized workflows

Radiotherapy is an effective treatment for breast cancer which affects 1 out of 8 women. However, radiation side-effects include skin burns – a burden for hospitals and very stressful for patients – lung cancer (5%), and cardiac deaths (3-5%). Prone treatment – with the patient lying face downwards – reduces skin burns by 35%, lung cancer deaths by 70%, and cardiac death risks, because the breast naturally detaches from the thorax in prone. The problem is that setting up the patient in a prone position to the required precision in every treatment session (5 to 35) is very difficult and therefore prone is not used as often as it should.

HeroSupport’s first product, VENUS SHELL™, is a custom immobilization device for prone breast radiotherapy. It's created by 3D scanning the patient's breast on the EYE-table™ and 3D printing a personalized shell. This MRI-compatible breast shell attaches to the hospital's treatment boards for precise, comfortable, and quick positioning during treatment, allowing for improved cancer treatment effectiveness, safety, and cost efficiency. HeroSupport aims to deliver its innovative positioning system to large radiotherapy centres in the EU, US, and Australia which are answering a growing need: in 2020, there were 2.26 million new breast cancer cases worldwide, of which 50% went through radiotherapy services by more than 7000 centres.

The startup will invest the CHF 150,000 to set up their 3D printing lab and complete certification, to work with their first customers. It is also currently raising its first financing round to accelerate international expansion.

The founders of the company are CEO Giovanna Dipasquale and CTO Johan Uiterwijk. HeroSupport is a spin-off of Geneva University Hospital, where Giovanna Dipasquale works as a medical physicist and where the device was tested in a clinical trial.

Giovanna Dipasquale said about Venture Kick: “It's been a privilege to go through the Venture Kick competition and receive real investor feedback, which is invaluable. Furthermore, it has pushed us to focus on the market, rather than solely concentrating on the product, which can be a common pitfall for founders fresh out of university institutions. A significant step forward, a real kick!”