10% of Women of Reproductive Age Suffer from Endometriosis
Endometriosis is a disease where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, causing pain and often infertility. Roughly 10% of women and girls have endometriosis for a total of over 190 million people. And, for many of these women, there is a significant gap between when symptoms first appear and when they are diagnosed. Diagnosis can take anywhere from 5 to 12 years.
Innovation for rapid screening and diagnosis is overdue
The many consequences of endometriosis, including severe pain, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and infertility, make it capable of seriously decreasing quality of life. Endometriosis also has a significant economic impact, causing reductions in productivity. Despite endometriosis being common and highly disruptive, most women do not have a direct path to diagnosis with some having to consult dozens of clinicians before receiving a diagnosis, and, ultimately, receiving a treatment plan.
Afynia Laboratories’ easy-to-use at-home kit can lead to an endometriosis diagnosis in a matter of days.
Afynia Laboratories’ Solution
Afynia’s at-home test identifies certain microRNA biomarkers that are differentially expressed in women with endometriosis compared to women without. The test’s accuracy is comparable to laparoscopy, an invasive surgical procedure that is used to get a closer look into a woman’s abdomen and reproductive system and has historically been the primary way to diagnose endometriosis. Because laparoscopy is a more invasive and expensive procedure, it often takes years for women to get tested and treated.
The new IHD-AIMA test will complement laparoscopic procedures. The test will both help eliminate diagnostic delays, enabling a noninvasive way to test for endometriosis and allow for patients who receive a positive test result to undergo laparoscopy for treatment potentially years sooner than they would otherwise.
The impact that Afynia Laboratories’ innovative test is poised to make in women’s health has been recognized by the BioCreate program, a government-funded research organization. Through the BioCreate program, Afynia received a $150k grant as well as 18 months of mentorship in business development. Afynia Laboratories is also one of ten companies recently selected for the Communitech Fast Track Health Collaborative, a program meant to connect companies with brilliant health solutions with healthcare groups and networks.
Femovate’s Impact
Afynia Laboratories was awarded sponsorship through Guidea’s Femovate program for ‘22-’24. As part of the Femovate sponsorship, the digital health experts at Guidea are working closely with founders Dr. Lauren Foster and Dr.Jocelyn Wessels to envision the patient and clinic experience. Starting with the patient journey map, we outlined the key points in the journey for digital support and designed storyboards and concept designs for testing, and conducted testing with the target audience.
We’ll continue to support the team with digital designs, usability testing, and development collaboration as they embark on clinical trials.
“Working with Guidea has been amazing! They are a talented group of people and they produce great work! We're doing our UX design and UX research with them, and we are extremely satisfied with the experience thus far.” -Jocelyn Wessels, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer
For more information about Afynia Laboratories, visit www.afynia.com and follow them on LinkedIn
For more information on Femovate visit www.femovate.com and follow us on LinkedIn
For interviews please contact Theresa Neil
