Recognized for disrupting 150-year-old practice of pathology with artificial intelligence to improve cancer patient outcomes
Philadelphia, November 12, 2019 - Proscia, a leading provider of digital pathology software, has been named to the CNBC Upstart 100, an exclusive list of venture-backed startups that have the potential to transform industries and become tomorrow’s household names. Proscia was selected from hundreds of nominees globally for its work towards delivering artificial intelligence applications to improve the quality and speed of cancer diagnosis.
The current standard of care for diagnosing biopsies relies on a pathologist’s interpretation of patterns in tissue as viewed through a microscope. This 150-year-old manual and subjective practice cannot keep pace with the rising cancer burden. In the U.S. alone, pathologists have faced a 42% rise in diagnostic workload over the last decade, a challenge that will continue to intensify as the total number of cancer cases is projected to increase by 55% by 2030. As successful cancer treatment hinges on accurate, timely pathology findings, this lack of diagnostic services can lead to sacrificed patient outcomes.
Proscia is working to enable pathologists to achieve precision diagnosis while delivering much-needed efficiencies to meet the growing demand for diagnosis. With its Concentriq® digital pathology platform and pipeline of image-based artificial intelligence applications, the company is accelerating diagnostic workflows as well as uncovering new insights that better inform treatment plans and help to fulfill the promise of personalized medicine.
“Proscia is proud to be recognized by CNBC for the promise we bring to improving cancer research and diagnosis,” said David West, CEO. “The $30 billion pathology industry is on the verge of a massive shift to an AI-enabled computational approach, marking its first major transformation since the introduction of the microscope over a century ago. Proscia is on the forefront of this change, improving patient outcomes and accelerating breakthroughs at a time when winning the fight against cancer is more critical than ever before.”
In June 2019, the company launched DermAI™, the first in its series of artificial intelligence applications for advancing the practice of pathology.* DermAI leverages deep learning to pre-screen and classify hundreds of variants of skin diseases, helping pathologists to work faster and providing a second layer of quality review across the laboratory.
“DermAI demonstrates a high level of accuracy in categorizing common diagnoses,” said Dr. Kiran Motaparthi, from the Department of Dermatology at University of Florida College of Medicine. “As a dermatopathologist who seeks to prioritize and focus time on challenging cases, this is exciting technology.”
Established in 2017, the CNBC Upstart 100 seeks to recognize companies that are building and scaling businesses addressing the rapidly changing technological era we live in. Proscia was selected based on a range of equally-weighted quantitative metrics, including scalability, user growth, intellectual property, and industry size. Earlier this month, Proscia received a CE Mark for its Concentriq Dx solution for use in primary diagnosis. The company was also recently named to the CB Insights Digital Health 150 list of the most promising digital health startups.
About Proscia
Proscia is a software company that is changing the way the world practices pathology to transform cancer research and diagnosis. With the company’s Concentriq digital pathology platform and pipeline of AI algorithms, laboratories are leveraging new kinds of data to improve patient outcomes and accelerate discoveries. Proscia’s team of technologists, scientists, and pathologists is bringing a fresh approach to an outdated industry, helping the world to keep pace with the increasing demand for pathology services and fulfill the promise of precision care. For more information, visit proscia.com.
*DermAI is for research use only.