Geneva Med-IT startup Agora Care SA, developing the new generation of web-based, patient-centered storage for medical images, announced the closing of $ 1 Mio pre-seed financing and the nomination of Jurgi Camblong as Chairman.
Building on a decades long track record of developing renowned open source platforms for the management and analysis of medical images, the Agora Care team, led by Professor Osman Ratib (CEO) and Joël Spaltenstein (CTO), is determined to provide patients with the most secure and convenient digital platform for storage and management of medical images.
The Agora Care solution will give patients the opportunity to be fully in control of their medical images using a simple web-based platform allowing them to share the results of imaging procedures with medical practitioners and healthcare providers anywhere in the world at any time. The patient who owns an account on the Agora Care platform will receive radiological images from imaging centers as soon as they are completed and will be able to have them automatically forwarded to the referring physicians.
According to Prof. Ratib, “It is critical for patients to have access to all their radiological examinations,” since, “the lack of access to previously performed examinations is a major source of erroneous medical decisions and unjustified costs – not to mention the unnecessary radiation that patients are exposed to due to repeated exams.”
Expertise & support for rising Agora Care
The company’s scientific and technical foundations are built on the expertise and pioneering work of Prof. Osman Ratib, former chair of the department of medical imaging at the Geneva University Hospital (HUG) and former professor and vice-chair of the department of radiology at the UCLA medical center in Los Angeles, California. Prof. Ratib is well recognized worldwide for his academic work in molecular imaging techniques as well as in the development of advanced image processing and analysis platforms adopted in academic and clinical institutions around the world. He is the founder and president of the OsiriX Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding and promoting open source software in medical imaging. With over 20 years of experience developing medical and other user-driven software, Joël Spaltenstein, co-founder and CTO of the company, will provide the required technical leadership and software development management for this ambitious project.
Agora Care also benefits from the support of the FONGIT foundation in Geneva. “We are delighted to see the interest that Agora Care is rapidly gaining” says Antonio Gambardella, FONGIT's director. “As a state-supported organization, we believe that Geneva, home to WHO and a world-class university hospital, is an ideal runway to launch this innovative digital health venture with global ambitions."
Newly appointed Chairman of the board
Agora Care also announced the appointment of Dr. Jurgi Camblong, co-founder and CEO of SOPHiA GENETICS, as chair of the Board of Directors. Dr. Camblong‘s pioneering vision into the world of data-driven medicine will further help Agora Care to deliver appropriate solutions for the next generation of medicine. Dr. Camblong said, “I am excited to join the board of Agora Care, since it brings the missing components for the development and validation of personalized medicine infrastructures. With its scientific and technical expertise and strong investor support, the company has the potential to revolutionize healthcare by empowering patients and accelerating research.”
(Press release)
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