Press releases 01/01/2021

Medimaps Group raises $20 million to expand and to commercialize AI product portfolio for bone health assessment utilizing routine medical images

  • U.S. Reimbursement for Flagship Imaging Software (TBS) begins January 1, 2022

GENEVA – December 01, 2021 – Medimaps Group, a Swiss/Global med-tech company specializing in image processing software for the assessment of bone health, announced today that it has secured $20 million in an institutional investment round led by Swisscanto Invest by Zürcher Kantonalbank, alongside Swiss Entrepreneurs Fund, Swisscom Ventures, and Verve Ventures. The funds raised will be used to expand its product portfolio with the development and market launch of its patented A.I. applications for bone health assessment in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The company’s current flagship product, Trabecular Bone Score (TBS iNsight), has received medical reimbursement in the U.S. beginning January 1, 2022.

There is an osteoporotic fracture every three seconds1. The estimated cost of these fractures per year in the United States is $52B and $57B in Europe, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation and the International Osteoporosis Foundation respectively, and these costs are expected to grow exponentially with the aging population(2,3). This phenomenon is largely a result of the fact that 75% of high-risk patients are not being diagnosed, nor screened, in a timely manner4. Of the patients receiving a bone mineral density (BMD) assessment, roughly 40% are incompletely diagnosed, because BMD5 can only measure quantity of bone, not quality of bone.

Medimaps Group’s TBS iNsight provides deep tech bone texture analysis related to bone micro-architecture to assess bone quality, enabling clinicians to identify patients sooner and classify their fracture risk, thus improving patient management and reducing the cost of care. It has been shown that 30% of osteopenic patients are reclassified with TBS.6 Their technology utilizes already acquired images and therefore does not expose the patient to additional radiation and it integrates seamlessly into the workflow.

“We are delighted, alongside our investment partners, to lead the investment in Medimaps,” said Dr. Robert Schier, Investment Director PE/VC, Swisscanto Invest. “We were very impressed with their level of clinical validation and medical acceptance worldwide. Medimaps is positioned well to lead the way for innovative solutions for bone health assessment and advancing A.I. analytics in medical imaging. Their technology can make a real difference in medical practices and ultimately improve patient’s lives. And now with reimbursement in the US, Medimaps’ solutions will be widely available.”

Medimaps’ proprietary and patented technology is empowered by deep learning multi-layer approach. This technology is applied to a wide spectrum of image modalities and resolution thereby providing solutions ranging from opportunistic X-ray based screening, to patient risk profiling, and to presurgical assessment.

“This is a great moment for clinicians and their patients,” said Prof Didier Hans, CEO Medimaps. “We are dedicated to the vision of improving bone health assessment to help patients before it’s too late. Our passion is to improve patient care and to empower doctor decisions by developing innovative simple solutions to complex medical needs for the benefit of healthy aging.”

References

(1) Johnell, O. and J.A. Kanis, An estimate of the worldwide prevalence and disability associated with osteoporotic fractures. Osteoporos Int, 2006. 17(12): p. 1726-33.
(2) https://www.bonehealthpolicyinstitute.org/bone-facts
(3) https://www.osteoporosis.foundation/news/fragility-fractures-cost-european-health-care-systems-eu569-billion-annually-20210607-2118
(4) Delmas, P.D., et al., Underdiagnosis of vertebral fractures is a worldwide problem: the IMPACT study. J Bone Miner Res, 2005. 20(4): p. 557-63
(5) Siris et al. (2004). Bone Mineral Density Thresholds for Pharmacological Intervention to Prevent Fractures. Arch InternMed.; 164(10):1108-1112. doi:10.1001/archinte.164.10.1108
(6) Adapted from Table 3 in Hans et al. J Bone Miner Res. 2011 Nov; 26(11):2762-9. Didier Hans et al. (2014). Bonemicroarchitecture assessed by TBS predicts osteoporotic fractures independent of bone density: the Manitoba study, Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. DOI: 10.1002/jbmr.499

About The Investors

Swisscanto Invest is the asset management arm of the Zürcher Kantonalbank group, one of Switzerland’s largest fund providers, developing high-quality investment and pension solutions for private investors, companies and institutions. The Swisscanto Growth Fund provides capital to companies in the expansion phase active in the information, communication, technology (ICT) as well as in the healthcare sectors, mainly in Switzerland and opportunistically abroad. The Swisscanto Growth Fund aims at creating added value during the market penetration by supporting its portfolio companies with capital, know-how and access to international partners for further expansion until a successful exit.

The Swiss Entrepreneurs Fund, created jointly by die Mobiliar, Credit Suisse, UBS and the Swiss Entrepreneurs Foundation provides capital to promising startups and growing companies and invests with their direct investment part pre-dominantly in Swiss companies, which already have products in the market and have a customer base.

Swisscom Ventures is the venture capital arm of Swisscom AG, the leading telecom and ICT provider in Switzerland. Since 2007, we have invested in over 75 technology companies from our offices in Switzerland (Zurich and Bern) and the USA (Silicon Valley). As a strategic investor, we offer entrepreneurs access to our technical infrastructure and market channels in addition to financial support.

Verve Ventures is a network and technology-driven venture capital firm with more than 45 team members. It is Europe’s 6th most active health tech investor.

About Medimaps Group

Medimaps Group’s medical imaging software applications based on patented multi-purpose technology with artificial intelligence capabilities provide healthcare solutions that fit seamlessly into the workflow for the benefit of the patient. TBS iNsight™ (Osteo) has been used for years in clinical practice worldwide in the field of osteoporosis. It has become the new gold standard for bone texture assessment in routine clinical practice. TBS has gained international recognition with more than 800 peer reviewed scientific publications and is included in many guidelines and used by more than 30,000 physicians worldwide including leading healthcare institutions.

Contacts

Shelley Horn
+1 240 994 0248
shorn@medimapsgroup.com
www.medimapsgroup.com