Universal Diagnostics

Universal Diagnostics S.L. (UDX) is a Spanish in vitro diagnostics company that has developed a minimally invasive, blood-based solutions platform for the early detection of cancer when treatment options are more plentiful and survival rates remain high. UDX believes the best way to fight cancer is to detect it early. The UDX diagnostic platform aims to detect various types of cancer, such as colorectal, liver, pancreatic, lung, and stomach cancer, through a simple blood test. The analysis relies on a proprietary panel of methylation markers; a simple blood sample collected as part of routine check-ups can be processed using standard equipment at reference laboratories or hospitals, then uploaded to the UDX cloud for final algorithmic analysis. UDX's first marker panel is a colorectal cancer screening test. This test identifies patients who need to be referred for a colonoscopy. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and the second deadliest cancer worldwide. The challenge is that colorectal cancer is mostly detected at an advanced stage, with significantly reduced survival rates (11% for stage IV versus 85% for stage I).