UE LifeSciences, a mobile health technology developer of iBreastExam, has raised a follow-on strategic investment of $1.2 million (around Rs. 8 crore) led by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon.
 
Existing investor, Unitus Seed Fund (USF), also participated in this round. The funding will be utilized to scale the company’s commercial operations in India and expand the innovation pipeline in the mobile health devices segment. UE LifeSciences has successfully established its facility in Mumbai under the Make in India campaign to manufacture the devices for the Indian market.
 
In October 2015, UE LifeSciences raised $3 million in Series A funding led by Aarin Capital and USF. The company also received a Rs. 50 lakh grant under the USF’s StartHealth programme.
 
“Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and early detection is critical. In India, one in two women newly diagnosed with breast cancer succumb to it; a staggering statistic that can be dramatically improved with early intervention. UE LifeSciences’ affordable, high-tech iBreastExam device is uniquely positioned to address this challenge effectively in both, urban and rural India”, said the Biocon chief.
 
iBreastExam is UE LifeSciences’ flagship product which was based on a technology developed at Philadelphia’s Drexel University. It is an ultra-portable and radiation-free device, usable by ASHAs or ANMs in virtually any setting. It performs bilateral breast examinations, accurately detects lesions under 5 minutes with sensitivity higher than 85 per cent and  low false-alarm rate of 6 per cent and does not cause any pain or discomfort.
 
The device which received USFDA clearance in April 2015, is currently available in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai through SRL Diagnostics, Medall, Metropolis labs, and Portea Home Healthcare. It is also approved by the National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHRSC) of India. UE LifeSciences is also working to enable early detection tests for India’s underserved population. The device has been successfully piloted for Rajasthan, Delhi and Maharashtra state governments. Over 20,000 women have received the iBreastExam test in India.
 
A clinical study, published in the Indian Journal of Gynecologic Oncology (IJGO) in April 2016, demonstrated an increase of 19 per cent in detections, even picking up non-palpable cancerous breast lesions, as opposed to the physician  administered clinical breast exam.
 
“It has been an incredible honor to have Dr. Shaw as a long-standing advisor and now an investor. She is a force to reckon with and we are really excited to have her by our side,” said Mihir Shah, Founder and CEO of UE LifeSciences.  
 
“We evaluated iBreastExam under an IRB approved clinical study of approximately 1,000 women at Manipal Hospital. The device performed with significantly higher sensitivity than clinical breast exam. It is a promising tool to provide clinically effective and standardized breast examinations to detect lesions at early stages”, said Dr. SP Somashekhar, HOD oncology Manipal Hospital.
 
“The breast cancer incidence has doubled in the last two decades. Yet, 90 per cent of the developing world doesn’t have access to any means of early detection. “iBreastExam is a first-of-its-kind innovative technology that will bring high quality, radiation free and painless breast health examination to millions of women in India,” said Dave Richards, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Unitus Seed Fund.