Crowdfunding for ACOBIOM in 2020
Despite a difficult context due to the Covid-19, ACOBIOM managed to raise nearly 102,000 euros of funding on the WEDOGOOD platform.
This funding will enable to perform GemciTest analyses of blood samples from patients with non-operable pancreatic cancer. This stage of analyses is mandatory in order to be able to commercialize this in-vitro diagnostic in the coming months.
GemciTest is based on a combination of blood biological markers that make it possible to identify patients for whom gemcitabine provides a real benefit, i.e. an average lifespan of 15 months, while avoiding the significant side effects that another chemotherapy treatment could induce.
Since November 2019, this in-vitro diagnostic, predictive of the patient’s response to gemcitabine in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, has been CE marked, synonymous with compliance with current European regulations.
The scientific results obtained by GemciTest were published in November 2020 in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Cancers (MDPI).
Thanks to ACOBIOM’s GemciTest, the clinician will be able to prescribe the therapy best suited to each patient’s biological profile for the treatment of non-operable pancreatic cancer. This test is the first blood test in the world to allow such a medical breakthrough in this cancer.
Furthermore, ACOBIOM received a Seal of Excellence from the European Commission in June 2019. This label proves the medical and economic importance of this blood diagnostic.
The GemciTest is a perfect illustration of the very essence of ACOBIOM: the desire and ambition to develop innovative blood diagnostics for the benefit of patients using the precision medicine approach.
Because each patient is different and reacts differently, the goal of precision medicine is to give the patient the most appropriate and/or effective therapy according to his or her specific biological characteristics.
About Pancreatic Cancer
According to the World Health Organization (IARC/Globocan 2018), 195,000 people were affected by pancreatic cancer in Europe in 2020. This is 15,000 people in France according to Santé Publique France. Pancreatic cancer is the 12th most common cancer and the number of cases is constantly increasing due to a continuous growth of more than 2% per year since several years. This cancer is becoming the 3rd leading cause of cancer mortality in the European Union and the United States, ahead of breast cancer.
For 80% of patients, the diagnosis of this cancer is at an advanced and non-operable stage, making the disease incurable. The “Pancreatic Cancer Action” association thus demonstrated that no major therapeutic progress had been made between 1971 and 2011 in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, unlike other cancers. For non-operable patients with a median overall survival of 6.5 months, the objective of any therapeutic solution is to prolong life, but also to improve the conditions and quality of life.
About ACOBIOM
ACOBIOM is a biotechnology company specialized in the discovery of new biomarkers and the development of innovative diagnostics for applications in Precision or Personalized Medicine. The biological markers identified by the company come from its technological platform, which combines genomics, transcriptomics, bioinformatics and biostatistics. Thanks to its unique scientific expertise in the analysis of gene expression in blood cells and whole blood, ACOBIOM has positioned itself in the field of Precision Medicine and the development of diagnostics to help in the choice of the most effective or the most adapted treatment to the biological (phenotypic) profile of patients. Founded in 1999, ACOBIOM is located in the Euromedicine Biopole of Montpellier and is a member of the Health clusters in its territory.
Contact: busdev@acobiom.com
About WE DO GOOD
WE DO GOOD, a B Corp certified French fintech and French leader in royalty financing, is a participative investment platform dedicated to projects with high societal impact. When a company finances itself in royalties, it commits to give up a percentage of its turnover in return, over a given period and at a given frequency, with a minimum and a maximum payment. The advantages of financing through “royalties” are: for companies, to raise equity capital without selling shares, privately or publicly, and for investors, to support inspiring projects, for which they are interested in their success, and to benefit from a progressive financial return without an exit to manage. Since the launch of WE DO GOOD, 6 million of euros have been raised, 121 companies financed and 22,619 users, including 5,724 unique investors.
Contact: bonjour@wedogood.co
