MiMARK Diagnostics raises €1M to accelerate development of in vitro diagnostic test for endometrial cancer

MiMARK Diagnostic, a spin-off of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) specialising in the development of innovative solutions for gynaecological diagnostics, based in the Barcelona Science Park, has raised €1 million to accelerate the development of its endometrial cancer diagnostic test.
The operation was led by venture capital funds Clave Capital, Nara Capital and Namarel Ventures, with participation from the WA4Steam business angel network.

"This investment marks the beginning of a new phase for the company, with new challenges, and allows us to achieve our goal: to improve gynaecological diagnostics, making it more accessible and less invasive for women," explains Marina Rigau, CEO and co-founder of MiMARK Diagnostics. Rigau runs femtech together with co-founders Antonio Gil-Moreno, head of the Biomedical Research in Gynaecology group at the VHIR and head of the Gynaecology and Obstetrics service at Vall Hebron University Hospital, and Eva Colás, CSO of MiMARK and principal investigator in the same group at the VHIR.

Transforming Gynaecological Diagnostics through Gynaecological Fluids
MiMArk Diagnostics' mission is to transform gynaecological diagnostics by focusing on the use of gynaecological fluids as a source of biomarkers. "Gynaecological fluids allow us to perform a minimally invasive approach to the diagnosis of gynaecological diseases with unmet clinical needs, as they represent the adjacent tissues of the gynaecological organs in a very specific way," explains Eva Colás, CSO of MiMARK.

The company's first product and beneficiary of the investment is WomEC, an in vitro diagnostic test for endometrial cancer based on the analysis of proteins in the soluble reaction of a sample of uterine aspirate. Endometrial cancer is the leading gynaecological cancer in developed countries, with more than 6,700 new cases a year in Spain. Diagnosis begins in women with abnormal vaginal bleeding, although only 1 in 10 will be diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Nowadays, diagnosis requires, in a high number of women, the performance of a hysteroscopy-guided biopsy, an invasive procedure that could be avoided with WomEC.

"With the introduction of WomEC, we offer patients a less invasive, more accurate and faster diagnosis of endometrial cancer, which will improve the management of patients with suspected cancer," said Antonio Gil-Moreno, co-founder of MiMARK.

"MiMARK Diagnostics represents a great opportunity to improve the diagnosis of endometrial cancer, as well as other pathologies such as endometriosis, whose current diagnosis is complex and lengthy," said Ignacio Prieto, advisor to the company on behalf of Clave Capital. Santiago Lozano, Fund Director at Clave Capital, adds that this new investment is "focused on valuing the research results of centres that are seriously committed to transferring them to the market".
"The investment in MiMARK Diagnostics is a perfect example of what we want to achieve at Nara Capital: to invest at a very early stage in companies with powerful research centres, with clearly revolutionary technologies, with exceptional human teams, and to which we can add value in terms of knowledge and support, in addition to capital," says Joan Mercadal, partner at Nara Capital, another of the funds that led the operation.

For WA4STEAM, an association of women business angels who invest in and support early-stage STEAM start-ups run by women, "the investment in MIMARK Diagnostics is perfectly in line with the association's values, both from a female leadership perspective and as a technology-based project with a clear impact on women's health".

About MiMARK Diagnostics
MiMARK Diagnostics is a spin-off of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute, whose mission is to improve women's health by developing innovative diagnostic tests that solve unsolved clinical problems related to gynaecological disorders.
It is one of the 11 companies that joined the BCN Health Booster accelerator in 2021, promoted by the Barcelona Science Park, Barcelona City Council, Barcelona Activa and Biocat. To date, the company has received a total of €2.4 million in public funding. Other grants include the EIT Health Wild Card 2020 - Women's Health Edition, Public-Private Collaboration Projects - MICINN call 2021 and Neotec Dones - CDTI call 2022.