‘Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures’ is the focus of the 2025 World Health Day, celebrated each year on 7 April. Which better occasion to discover how the forward-looking innovations of 2 EIC beneficiaries and 1 Seal of Excellence holder (EIC Accelerator Better Medicine, EIC Accelerator aptaTargets and Seal of Excellence holder SymPhysis) are driving us towards a better future for both patients and healthcare professionals?
Better Medicine (Estonia): Supporting healthcare on both sides
As is well-known, one of the major added values of AI is its capability to automate manual tasks thus enabling the workforce to focus on less repetitive and more urgent ones.
With the critical shortage of radiologists analysing CT scans for cancer diagnoses in mind, along with the cancer incidence projected to spike by 27.4 % over the next decade, the Estonia-founded medtech company Better Medicine has developed and certified the world's first AI-powered software as a medical device for clinical use to assist radiologists in identifying cancer earlier and faster.
Supported by the EIC Accelerator scheme, the Better Medicine Artificial Intelligence (BMAI) project, coordinated by Better Medicine, will reduce by up to 60% the time radiologists spend on interpreting cancer-related CT scans, entrusting these repetitive tasks to the AI-powered software thus enabling healthcare professionals to concentrate on delivering exceptional patient care and making better informed clinical decisions.
Promising clinical study results open up possibilities for market expansion
A recent clinical study conducted by the company proved that Better Medicine’s progress in striving to improve the lives of patients and healthcare providers is in the right direction: the study showed that radiologists working with the Estonian company’s software were up to 52% faster in measuring tumors compared to working without AI assistance.
The study also demonstrated that radiologists, in collaboration with AI, detected kidney tumors in up to 99.2% of the cases in the sample.
While the focus is at the moment on abdominal tumors as their detection is extremely complex and effective solutions are scarce, Better Medicine will soon initiate a fundraising process to enter the US market and expand into the field of drug research.
aptaTargets (Spain): Pioneering neuroprotection for stroke patients
Founded in 2014 in Madrid, aptaTargets, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, is addressing a challenging issue: stroke is a devastating medical condition affecting 15 million people worldwide yearly.
The fact that only 20% of patients are currently eligible for reperfusion treatment partly due to stringent selection criteria for eligibility and that novel therapies have not yet achieved enough efficacy to gain approval, were for aptaTargets major drivers in the development of apTOLL, an innovative neuroprotectant aimed at reducing brain damage in Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS).
Treating stroke in the first hours after the onset (acute phase), the potential of the groundbreaking immune modulator, backed by the EIC Accelerator, is that of reducing brain damage up to 65% with an effective time-window of 12 hours, thus enhancing survival and long-term quality of life.
A major step in bringing apTOLL to market
apTOLL’s groundbreaking safety and efficacy results – demonstrating a decrease in mortality from 18% to 5% – yielded in a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial and disclosed at the International Stroke Conference in Dallas in February 2023, were followed by not less noticeable achievements of the Madrid-based company in 2024.
In December 2024, the company was awarded with the Programa Cheque Innovación 2024 from the Community of Madrid, which will enable aptaTargets to develop a new Phase 1a clinical trial. Additionally, through the support of the EIC Accelerator grant and of the Spanish Ministry, a partnership agreement was signed with a pharmaceutical company, a major step forward in bringing apTOLL to market.
SymPhysis (Ireland): Putting control and independence back in the hands of late-stage cancer patients
Building on the mission ‘enhancing patient independence and comfort through thoughtful innovation’, Galway medtech company, SymPhysis, received the Seal of Excellence Certificate from the European Innovation Council, highlighting the value and impact of Releaze, its groundbreaking innovation to treat a common complication of late-stage cancers: malignant pleural effusion (MPE).
While systems to manage the symptoms, including shortness of breath and chest pain, are already available in the market, they usually require the assistance of a healthcare professional or a family member. Seeking to address this burden for patients and their loved ones, the Irish company designed a revolutionary drainage system, Releaze, which through a one-touch control of the procedure reduces reliance of cancer patients on others for providing timely relief from symptoms.
Recent achievements and long-term prospects
Recipients of recent awards including the Life Science Innovation Award and Best Collaboration in MedTech, both gained in 2023, SymPhysis raised €2.8m in its latest funding round and expects to close a further €3.7m from a combination of current and new investors by April 2025.
As for upcoming steps, the eyes of the Irish company are now on the US, where SymPhysis is preparing to do the launch of its groundbreaking device, expecting to represent 20% of the US market by 2030, along with 10% of the European market in the same period.
About Better Medicine
Better Medicine is dedicated to advancing medical care through the latest innovations in AI and medical imaging. Supported by the EIC Accelerator, Better Medicine is driving efficiency in radiology by entrusting repetitive tasks to AI through its AI-powered software.
Learn more about Better Medicine by visiting the Horizon Europe database and the company official website.
About aptaTargets
Founded in 2014, aptaTargets was spun-out of Aptus Biotech, an aptamer technology platform. Supported by the EIC Accelerator, aptaTargets is focused on developing therapeutic applications based in aptamer technology.
Learn more about aptaTargets by visiting the Horizon Europe database and the company official website.
About SymPhysis
SymPhysis is a medical device company dedicated to developing innovative technologies that treat a range of chronic diseases. an aptamer technology platform. The company received from the European Innovation Council (EIC) the Seal of Excellence Certificate, which highlights the value and impact of Releaze, its innovation aimed at enhancing cancer patients’ independence.
Learn more about SymPhysis on the company official website and learn more about the Seal of Excellence Certificate on our EIC website.
DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.