YPOG advises Aignostics on funding for further development of AI-assisted pathology

Berlin –A YPOG team led by Martin Schaper advised Aignostics, a spin-off from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, developing novel digital pathology solutions with “Explainable AI” for pharmaceutical research and diagnostics, on the closing of an oversubscribed Series A financing round. Wellington Partners led the round, joined by existing investors Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), VC Fonds Technologie managed by IBB Ventures and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF). CARMA Fund, initiated by Ascenion, also participated as a new investor.

While pathologists are outstanding at interpreting individual tissue samples qualitatively, deep analysis of large data sets is a challenge better suited for AI. Recognizing that, Aignostics focuses on building leading AI models for the detailed analysis of tissue samples and associated metadata for its blue-chip pharma and biotech clients. Aignostics’ AI models go well beyond current off-the-shelf solutions and established approaches. Their models cover key tissue staining technologies. They enable the acceleration of pre-clinical and translational research to improve understanding of disease biology, mode of action, or novel biomarkers and drug response characteristics, which are difficult to assess with traditional approaches under a microscope.

“With this new round of funding, we want to continue building our presence and team. In particular, we will put a stronger focus on the US market, in which we have been active since the beginning of this year,” explained Viktor Matyas, CEO and co-founder of Aignostics. “By accelerating our investments into our platform and regulatory excellence, we will be able to offer a Good Clinical Practice (GCP) compliant development and analysis process starting early 2023, and we plan to have first AI models in use in early-stage clinical trials soon thereafter. Eventually, we aim to become a credible choice for global Companion Diagnostic (CDx) developments too.”

Advisors Aignostics:

Dr. Martin Schaper (Lead/Corporate, Transactions), Partner
Dr. Benedikt Flöter (Transactions, Litigation, IP/IT), Associated Partner 
Pia Meven (Corporate, Transactions), Associate
Rosa Wizisla (Corporate, Transactions), Associate

About Aignostics

Aignostics specializes in AI-powered pathology, uniquely combining proprietary technology, its pathologist network, and comprehensive access to key data modalities to build bespoke AI models for its global pharma and biotech client base. These AI models can deliver valuable insights into disease biology from tissue samples, such as novel biomarkers and drug response characteristics.
Aignostics formally started in 2018 in the Digital Health Accelerator program of the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), based on joint research by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, one of Europe’s largest university hospitals, led by Prof. Frederick Klauschen, and TU Berlin, led by Prof. Klaus-Robert Müller. In early 2020, Aignostics was spun-out of Charité. To date, Aignostics has raised close to €20m in funding from leading VC investors and has offices in Berlin, Germany, and Boston, U.S.

www.aignostics.com

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