The first step towards treating cancer, as the world knows, is an early diagnosis. Most of the cases of cancer across the globe can be contained when detected during early stages and treatment can then be planned. Almost ninety-five percent of early-stage (stage 1 & 2) breast cancer patients in India undergo chemotherapy treatment to avoid cancer recurrence. However, it benefits only about 10% – 15% of patients and often has toxic side effects which reduce the patient’s quality of life (QOL) substantially. OncoStem Diagnostics is a company that focuses on developing innovative tests in the personalized medicine space. It is committed to developing tests which inform early-stage cancer patients about their risk of recurrence and its primary focus is breast cancer. Its flagship test, CanAssist Breast, is performed on the patient’s individual tumour and helps clinicians to plan personalized treatment for each patient based on their tumour biology.
An Eminent Founder
OncoStem was Founded by Dr. Manjiri Bakre, who holds a Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore has experience in working in the US and Singapore in academic and semi government institutions like Mt Sinai School of Medicine, University of California at San Diego and at the Genome Institute of Singapore. Through OncoStem, she is realizing her vision of developing and delivering innovative, cost-effective and reliable tests for personalized cancer treatment planning.
An Uphill Task
Like any other start-up, OncoStem had to deal with its own share of challenges. The initial challenges were:
- Finding funding for a product-driven company in life sciences in India from venture capitalists.
- Finding a suitable space to set up a laboratory.
- Lack of clarity in rules and support from government authorities for approvals needed to launch a new diagnostic product in India.
- Ordering chemicals and reagents for the laboratory is still a slow and unreliable process in India.
OncoStem has managed to come this far due to apt and timely support of a few good hospitals with visionary leaders and excellent clinicians. Dr. Manjiri says, “I solve the problems related to running a start-up primarily by reading about the issues, talking to other entrepreneurs, investors and mentors about them and being absolutely persistent in my attempts to ‘solve’ them.” She considers OncoStem team indeed fortunate to have found the right clinicians and hospitals. Recently government support for start-up companies has increased and she is very appreciative of the same.
Way of Work
OncoStem develops tests to determine the molecular fingerprint of the tumour and to assess the aggressiveness of the tumour. Clinicians can use that information to devise tailor-made therapeutic strategies for each patient. Unlike other tests developed using data from patients outside Asia, CanAssist Breast has been validated on Asian patients, who are likely to have different disease features compared to patients from Western countries. Over 400 Asian patients have accessed CanAssist Breast for personalized breast cancer treatment planning.
Working in such a specialised field requires a workplace that is hassle-free, highly supportive of team work. To maintain the same, Manjiri looks at issues very objectively with intent to resolve it. She then talks to people individually and explains other’s point of view and that these work and individual conflicts are only distractions, so focuses on the bigger goal of the company. Team events, small parties at the workplace, celebrating big achievements with credit to folks who helped with the task are the primary way of work at OncoStem.
The organization along with Manjiri has been honored on several occasions. OncoStem was recognized as ‘Top 100 Startups to Watch in 2018’ and received ‘Healthcare Excellence Awards’ in 2018. On the other hand, Dr. Manjiri is the only Indian to win the prestigious KBCF award and was invited to deliver a talk at the Global Breast Cancer Conference (GBCC) in April 2018 at Incheon, South Korea.
Guiding Light
With rapid innovations in the healthcare industry start-ups are trying to address existing challenges and introduce new efficient medical tests and therapies to treat patients. Being Updated with/embracing the latest industry trends and new-age technologies for young entrepreneurs is the need of the hour. Dr. Manjiri advises them to “Be more customer-centric. Focus on the job and drive each aspect of the company to solve and learn from your mistakes. The only way to succeed is to work hard and by being a really good person at heart.” Being aware of one’s strong points is essential, but more importantly, one should know the weak points and work on them relentlessly.
Finding More Solutions that Work
OncoStem’s goal is to be the go-to oncology diagnostic company with a panel of innovative tests required for personalized treatment planning for multiple cancers. It is working on automating CanAssist Breast end-to-end so that it can package it as a kit to be performed at respective hospitals. This will help the company to increase its footprint and in reducing turn-around time as the business grows. It is entering into Asian markets this year and will be launching CanAssist Breast in the Middle East, Europe and the US in a phased manner. OncoStem is working to add more innovative tests for additional cancers and towards that goal development of tests for oral and ovarian cancers are already underway.
