From a test that identifies benign thyroid nodules, to the ability to read a person’s entire genome using digital microfluidics technology. These are some of the innovations created by Chileans, who are contributing their grain of sand, to the new technologies that will advance biomedicine.
Two Chilean entrepreneurs endeavored to the field of biomedicine explained the importance of innovation in the health sector In the context of the seminar “Entrepreneurship in Biomedicine”, held by SOFOFA Hub. Hernan Gonzalez, a physician from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and founder of Genepro DX, and Alejandro Tocigl, bachelor in business administration from Universidad de Chile and founder of Miroculus, attended as panelists at the conference which was moderated by Tomas Mardones, scientific deputy director of SOFOFA Hub’s Center for Translational Biotechnology.
The main focus of conversation was to demonstrate the possibility of undertaking in biomedicine entrepreneurship, and the interest generated in the scientific world with these great advances. In the case of Dr. Gonzalez, his test called ThyroidPrint helps prevent and avoid surgeries in cases where lymphomas are indeterminate, that is, when there is uncertainty whether they are benign or malignant.
“We have just completed a study that included 300 people in Chile, and we were able to determine that the rate of surgeries without the test amounted to 79%; while the rate with the test was reduced to 29%. Therefore, we reduced the number of unnecessary surgeries by more than 50%”, the doctor explained, highlighting the positive impact of his invention.
On the other hand, the technology developed by Tocigl is applied to the identification of the human genetic map, which would be helpful in various ways for the prevention and prediction of multiple diseases and pathologies. What stands out in Miroculus is its digital microfluid technology, which automates its mapping, saving a considerable amount of money and time.
“A future where everyone, from birth, has the right to access their own book. The book of their life,” were the words that the entrepreneur used to close his intervention, evidencing the purpose of his entrepreneurial undertaking.