Early Is Good Nets $4 Million From Social Capital

Early is Good (EIG) can now move foward with its clinical trials, having closed a $4 million seed round from Silicon Valley-based Social Capital. The company will use the money to complete studies for its first product, a lab-developed test (BCDx) for early bladder cancer detection. 
 
Bladder cancer is among the most diagnosed cancers (No. 6 overall, No. 4 among men) in the United States. In 2022, more than 81,000 people are expected to be diagnosed with bladder cancer, of which 17,000 are not expected to survive the disease. Once diagnosed, bladder cancer has a 50% to 80% recurrence rate, making it one of the most expensive cancers to treat over a patient’s lifetime.
 
Blood in the urine (hematuria) is usually the first sign of bladder cancer. The current the diagnostic gold standard for investigating blood in urine is performing a cystoscopy (invasive) or cytology (under a microscope). However, both techniques rely on the subjective observations of oncologists and pathologists, in addition to cystoscopies being invasive and uncomfortable, with potential complications including infection, bleeding, perforation, and urinary retention.

“Despite being one of the most common cancers in the U.S., we still rely on old techniques to diagnose bladder cancer,” EIG Founder/CEO Thakshila Liyanage, Ph.D., said. “Our technology can distinguish healthy versus oncogenic phenotypes earlier and more specifically than a cystoscopy, while also having the benefit of being non-invasive and less reliant on inconvenient procedures and subjective analysis.”
 
The BCDx assay uses a single lab-developed test to evaluate a range of biomarkers from proteins, microRNAs, and mRNAs to long noncoding RNAs. The non-invasive technology does not require extraction or amplification and uses a hybrid dual read-out method to accurately quantify specific biomarkers to diagnose bladder cancer and disease stage.
 
In EIG’s analytical validation study of BCDx, data demonstrates unprecedented attomolar sensitivity and specificity, with high PPV and NPV values for biomarkers that are present in picomolar concentrations and establishes a strong foundation for an effective, non-invasive, and robust diagnostic for the bladder cancer community.
 
“EIG hopes to give millions of people access to accurate, convenient, and early diagnoses for renal diseases. With EIG’s early breakthrough work around bladder cancer, they are developing a single lab-developed test, BCDx, which would enable patients to detect potential bladder cancer earlier and more conveniently than any other test currently available,” Social Capital Partner Jay Zaveri said.
 
Indianapolis, Ind.-based Early is Good operates labs at the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute and the Indiana Center for Biomedical Innovation. EIG is developing technology to detect renal system diseases, including bladder, kidney, and prostate cancers, early by assessing specific biomarkers found in urine.
 
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