Staying ahead of the technology curve means strengthening your competitive advantage. That is why we give you data-driven innovation insights into the healthcare industry. This time, you get to discover 5 hand-picked startups developing hepatology solutions.
Global Startup Heat Map highlights 5 Top Hepatology Solutions out of 513
The insights of this data-driven analysis are derived from the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 1.379.000+ startups & scaleups globally. The platform gives you an exhaustive overview of emerging technologies & relevant startups within a specific field in just a few clicks.
The Global Startup Heat Map below reveals the distribution of the 513 exemplary startups & scaleups we analyzed for this research. Further, it highlights 5 HealthTech startups that we hand-picked based on criteria such as founding year, location, funding raised, and more. You get to explore the solutions of these 5 startups & scaleups in this report. For insights on the other 508 hepatology solutions, get in touch.
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Galea Therapeutics develops Small Molecule Drugs for Fatty Liver Disease (FLD)
With the rapid increase in the consumption of fast food, populations across the world are experiencing a rise in obesity numbers. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is strongly connected to obesity, has serious health implications. Typically, small molecule drugs have high penetrant effects across whole cell populations. As a result, startups develop small molecule-based pharmacological solutions that tackle fatty liver disease.
Spanish startup Galea Therapeutics develops small molecule drugs to treat FLD and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The startup’s lead drug candidate GAL-072 is currently awaiting clinical trials, after completing the preclinical toxicology stage. The drug demonstrates robust in vivo proof of concept in animal models with liver steatosis by significantly reducing liver fat content while increasing fat degradation and reducing tissue inflammation. Further, the startup’s lead candidate provides a broad therapeutic solution for the treatment of the early stages of the disease.
Akero Therapeutics develops a Monotherapy Treatment for NASH
In many countries, child obesity is a serious concern for public health and welfare. Obese children are most susceptible to develop NASH but also patients suffering from diabetes have a higher chance of developing NASH. Depending on the stage of disease progression, NASH is tackled with a variety of medications. However, startups and scaleups develop monotherapy solutions to treat all stages of NASH.
The US-based startup Akero Therapeutics develops a monotherapeutic solution to treat NASH. Efruxifermin, the startup’s multi-modal drug, mimics the FGF21 protein to confront the many aspects of NASH. By design, this drug reduces liver fat and inflammation, reverses fibrosis, and improves the lipoprotein profiles. Further, this drug restores lipid metabolism in the liver to a healthy state and protects against hepatocyte stress and death.
Inorbit Therapeutics develops a Therapeutic Solution to mitigate the risk of Drug-Induced Liver Injury (DILI)
Any kind of damage to the liver potentially can cause acute liver failure and other organ distress. For example, the excessive use of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and prescription drugs for the treatment of NASH can cause DILI. To tackle this issue, genetics and DNA sequencing are used to discover new drugs capable of mitigating the risk of DILI. As a result, startups develop specific therapeutic solutions that assist the mitigation of DILI in the treatment of fatty liver disease.
Swedish startup Inorbit Therapeutics develops therapeutic solutions that assist in the mitigation of DILI. The startup’s lead compound IOT022, a Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR) agonist, aims for the successful treatment of NASH without causing liver injury. This drug compound exhibits considerable efficacy in sub-chronic in vivo models with an excellent safety margin. Further, Inorbit’s lead discovery efforts include 3 projects, namely FXR, KHK, and DGAT2 aimed for the treatment of fatty liver disease.
Ochre Bio leverages Cellular Genomic Technologies for FLD
Single-cell genomics play a vital role in the identification of pathophysiological processes that cause the liver to fail. Individual whole-exome sequencing (WES) is successful in identifying unknown genetic variants for inherited diseases such as acute liver failure in children. As a result, startups leverage genomic technologies to develop treatment solutions to treat fatty liver disease across age groups.
British startup Ochre Bio leverages cellular genomic technologies to develop therapeutic solutions for FLD. The startup finds and shuts down over-active genes driving liver disease. Ochre Bio bypasses animal testing and directly moves to test its therapies in discarded donor livers instead. The startup sequences human livers then tests the therapies in human microlivers that are lab-grown. Additionally, the startup’s proprietary algorithms analyze 250.000 data sets to find the right combination of genes to target.
Ezra develops a Diagnostics Solution to Identify Liver Cancer
The symptoms of liver cancer manifest in its later stages making it hard to detect early on. Long-standing cirrhosis is often the reason for cancer malignancies to develop in patients. However, regular diagnostic monitoring and advanced algorithms enable clinicians and medical professionals to identify liver cancer in its early stages. To advance this process, startups develop artificial intelligence solutions that assist in early liver cancer detection.
The US-based startup Ezra develops an AI-based Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) solution to detect liver cancer, lung cancer, spleen cancer, and brain cancer among others. The scanning process takes approximately 1 hour, is painless, and does not involve radiation. Clinicians leverage Ezra AI to get diagnostics insights that enable them to diagnose cancer in its early stages and thus improve patient outcomes.
Discover More Healthcare Startups
Healthcare startups such as the examples highlighted in this report focus on AI, mobile health, telemedicine as well as gene editing. While all of these technologies play a major role in advancing healthcare, they only represent the tip of the iceberg. To explore more healthcare technologies, simply get in touch to let us look into your areas of interest. For a more general overview, you can download our free Healthcare Innovation Report to save your time and improve strategic decision-making.
