Salva Health wants to lower breast cancer mortality with its affordable screening device | TechCrunch

Six years in the past, whereas researching for a school entrepreneurship competitors, Valentina Agudelo recognized a troubling hole in breast most cancers survival charges between Latin America and the developed world, with ladies in her native Colombia and the remainder of the continent dying at increased charges resulting from late detection.

She realized that breast most cancers is very treatable when identified early, but many Latin American nations have massive rural populations missing entry to mammograms and different diagnostic instruments.

So Agudelo (pictured above) and her two greatest pals determined to create a theoretical moveable gadget that may detect breast most cancers early.

“The concept caught with me,” Agudelo instructed TechCrunch. “I simply couldn’t let go of the issue we had recognized.” 

Shortly after the competitors ended, Agudelo based Salva Well being and commenced creating the corporate’s first product, Julietta, a small gadget that measures tissue density with electrodes that connect to every breast and supplies outcomes inside minutes to a telephone, pill, or laptop.

Since then, Agudelo graduated from faculty, interned at PepsiCo, labored for Colombian well being tech startup Dondoctor, and accomplished an MBA at INSEAD. It was rather a lot to juggle, however Salva at all times remained her important focus. 

Salva Well being partnered with Grupo Sura, a serious Colombian insurance coverage firm, to conduct scientific trials and develop an AI mannequin able to predicting breast most cancers danger.

The corporate at present employs 13 individuals and is near receiving approval from Colombia’s INVIMA (Nationwide Institute for Drug and Meals Surveillance), a regulatory company equal to the FDA. 

Julieta just isn’t an alternative to mammograms. It’s a screening software designed to detect abnormalities and assess the chance of malignancy. “With that info, insurance coverage firms can prioritize ladies for correct prognosis,” Agudelo stated. 

Salva, a TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 Startup Battlefield finalist, plans to begin distributing Julieta all through Latin America after it receives the inexperienced gentle from INVIMA. Agudelo defined that different nations within the area are anticipated to acknowledge INVIMA’s approvals based mostly on business treaties.

The corporate additionally intends to request that the FDA acknowledges INVIMA’s approval. Though the U.S. doesn’t have a big scarcity of mammogram machines or a big rural inhabitants, screening some ladies with Julieta as a substitute might end in substantial price financial savings for well being insurances, Agudelo stated.

“After which, we need to begin getting approval and acknowledged in different nations, centered on rising markets: Africa, India,” she stated.

As a substitute of promoting Julieta to clinics, Salva plans to supply the gadget totally free and cost well being payors for every screening.

Agudelo stated that she selected the hardware-as-a-service enterprise mannequin as a result of she wished to retain management of the gadget and knowledge, so the corporate could make enhancements to it when crucial. 

However Salva doesn’t need to restrict itself to breast screening solely. “We’re at present exploring options for early indicators of diabetes and heart problems,” Agudelo stated. “We’re specializing in detecting these circumstances early to allow them to get correct prognosis and therapy at a fraction of the associated fee.”