1. Could you tell our readers what your company will be showcasing at PrecisionMed Exhibition and Summit 2022?
Antegenes is an international pioneer of precision preventive medicine, with the aim to use personal genetic information to reduce the severity and mortality due to common complex diseases like cancers. We have developed and brought into clinical use innovative genetic tests based on polygenic risk scores technology that assess patient’s personal cancer risks.
The tests are currently used to determine the genetic risk to four cancers: breast cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, and skin melanoma. We inform individuals and their doctors about their genetic disease risks and provide actionable medical recommendations that reduce the likelihood, severity, and mortality of these cancers. Based on our tests we have also created and implemented genetics-based precision prevention programs.
All our tests are registered CE-marked medical devices (IVD). Antegenes’ products are created scientifically with laboratory and clinical validity and clinical usefulness, which makes them usable in healthcare by a broad range of healthcare professionals and institutions. Products are based on peer-reviewed international research and have been evaluated and validated using anonymized population data of the UK Biobank and Estonian Biobank.
2. Tell our readers about your company’s focus and products for the show.
As Estonia is one of the first countries in the world to have implemented these innovations in the healthcare system, we are excited to introduce Antegenes’ precision medicine solutions globally because we see how our testing technology can vastly improve patient outcomes for those likely to develop cancers. At PrecisionMed Exhibition and Summit we are happy to showcase how our innovative genetic tests work and the comprehensive science and technology behind them.
Furthermore, we are happy to introduce our precision prevention programs. We have a collaborative project ongoing in Norway towards the public implementation of polygenic risk score-guided breast cancer precision prevention in the country. We have also started a separate project in collaboration with other medical institutions and national partners who aim to bring our approach on public breast cancer screening programs into use in Sweden, Portugal, then other European countries.
3. Why is the Middle East a key area for your business?
The Estonian Biobank was founded already in 2001 and today about 20% of Estonia’s adult population has joined the programme, with the current cohort size standing at more than 200,000 individuals. This has been an important basis for us to develop innovative solutions for precision medicine. We see that the Middle East countries are now developing biobanks that are similar to the Estonian Biobank, with the goal to significantly improve disease prevention. We strongly see that we share the same visions of how genetics should be widely integrated in the healthcare system. We have to push innovative solutions forward together through mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries, scientists and businesses.
We already saw great synergy that confirms our shared visions during EXPO2020 Dubai where Antegenes was an official partner of the Estonian Pavilion and organized a panel about real-life innovations for personalized cancer prevention with top scientists from Estonia, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
4.What is your silver lining during Covid-19?
For Antegenes Covid-19 didn’t affect us that much – our products and solutions are based on home-testing and for consulting we were already using telemedicine solutions, so this wasn’t a change for us. As Estonia is known as the world’s most digitally advanced society, our goal since the beginning was to develop our products and services as digital and convenient as possible. We even saw a rise in the use of our products, as they are easily accessible.
5. How do you see the hospitals of tomorrow?
Hospitals of tomorrow must put much more emphasize into preventive activities and programs, not so much treating diseases. I believe preventive medicine will make a huge leap in the upcoming years, and numerous precision prevention services and solutions will become the standard in healthcare.
6. What healthcare technology do you think will make a big difference in the future?
I see that polygenic risk scores will be a field to keep an eye on. There are scientifically described polygenic risk scores for more than 200 traits, but this information is not yet in clinical use. It will be fascinating to see how polygenic risk scores will be integrated broadly into healthcare.
7. As you look to the future, what is one innovation that really excites you?
As a medical oncologist, I must say that cell-free tumor DNA testing as a potential future tool is very exciting. It represents a promising method for the diagnosis, treatment selection and clinical follow-up of cancer patients. I also see synergy between our polygenic risk score tests and this new emerging technology.
