That was 2021 – and here’s what happens next
We look back on the milestones of 2021 – and forward to upcoming projects.
In May, we moved the entire company within Jena, thus gaining space for more office workspace and a better layout of the labs. Recently, our team grew by one colleague, so that we are now 18 people.
One of the reasons for this was the sales partnership with EUROIMMUN. With our new cooperation partner, we are initially launching GynTect in Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Poland and Canada, with further markets under discussion. Meanwhile, our Spanish partner NIMGenetics aims to expand sales to Brazil and Mexico.
With more personnel and more space our production and QM department is well prepared for the growing international demand.
Studies for the diagnosis of head and neck tumors and cervical cancer
Together with the clinical department for general ENT at the Medical University of Graz, we have been conducting research since April as part of the “OroCa-Graz” study to improve and speed up the diagnosis of head and neck tumors.
In addition, we evaluated further results of the GynTect Pro study. The three-year follow-up study included 60 young female patients having a negative GynTect test after an abnormal gynecological finding.
With this study we want to show that these women do not develop cervical cancer despite their abnormal gynecological findings, but that the cell changes heal on their own. We are currently looking at individual follow-ups in more detail and are preparing a publication of the study results.
Continuation of the study on self-sampling: simplifying cancer screening and reaching non-attendees
Following the successful pilot study on cervical cancer screening using samples taken by patients themselves, we continue on this topic in a larger scale. Hannover Medical School is contacting 20,000 randomly selected women from the Hannover region.
They will be given one of three possible options for taking a sample: a special cup for collecting urine or one of two possible self-smear kits. For all women who test positive for HPV, we use GynTect to check whether the self-collected sample indicates that cervical cancer could develop. All HPV-positive women are also referred to the clinic. The aim is to make screening easier in the future.
Participation in conferences
In 2022, we hope to show personal presence in various conferences again. We plan to attend EUROGIN in Düsseldorf as well as the German Cancer Congress in Berlin. At MEDICA, for example, we hope to be able to exchange ideas with representatives of the industry in person again.
