Deep tech start-up electronRx (eRx) have received prestigious international validation by advancing to the semifinals of the EIT Health Catapult 2022-23 competition, following an extensive regional pre-selection process.

 

The annual competition showcases Europe’s most promising biotech, medtech and digital health start-ups to leading experts and investors. Based in Cambridge, UK, eRx promises to save millions of lives and billions in healthcare costs by alleviating the global burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) just using the smartphones we all have in our pockets. 

 

With no additional hardware required, eRx is enabling mass screening for atrial fibrillation (AF) for less than €1 per person simply by asking patients to hold their phone for 30 seconds.

 

AF leads to heart disease and stroke; the world’s biggest killers. 

 

In the EU alone, there are 49 million people living with CVD, at a cost of €210 billion per year to the EU economy including costs of healthcare services, medicines & lost economic productivity due to death and disability; 3.9 million people in Europe die each year as a result of CVD [1]. 

 

Using eRx’s technology, patients are empowered with early intervention to prevent disease onset, debilitating illness, and death. Dr Bipin Patel, CEO and Founder of electronRx, expresses his delight at the recognition his team has received: “it’s a delight to have the spotlight directed on a life threatening unmet need.” 

 

As part of Catapult, eRx will now receive high-quality, individualised training to prepare them for the semifinals where they will present their solution to a public audience of healthcare professionals, industry experts, investors and many more. 

 

Winners receive prizes from sponsors such as AstraZeneca and Merck, and the top three start-ups from each category will go head-to-head for their share of the €210,000 cash prize.

 

This comes at a pivotal moment of growth for eRx, who recently presented at the MedCity INVEST conference in Chicago and won the One to Watch award at the 2022 Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards. 

 

They are already partnering with the NHS and a number of large US healthcare providers to develop their scalable FoneDx platform for mass screening and detection of AF. 

 

This platform harnesses their proprietary FoneDx API technology which enables the accurate measurement of vital signs and insights into cardiovascular and respiratory function solely through a patient holding their smartphone. 

 

In addition to upcoming trials set to deliver validated digital biomarkers for widespread AF detection, future aspirations include harnessing the technology to build out low-cost, scalable disease management programmes for heart failure patients. 

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