Birmingham spin-out IMS Solutions raises £1.1M for hormone diagnostic tests

What's the deal? IMS SolutionsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a spin-out from the University of BirminghamDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Imperial College London, has raised £1.1 million in seed funding to develop diagnostic tests for conditions involving disordered steroid hormone metabolism. Midlands MindforgeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led the round.

Who else backed it? The syndicate included SFC CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the UK Innovation and Seed Capital Fund, NG Bio, the British Business Bank, and uki2s. IMS is further supported by a £2.1 million grant from the National Institute for Health and Care ResearchDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, awarded to Imperial College London.

What's the endgame? The company's platform detects steroid signatures in urine and blood to speed up diagnosis of conditions with diffuse, hard-to-pinpoint symptoms. Its first product, the ACCelerate test, helps clinicians tell benign from malignant adrenal tumours; a UK launch is targeted for 2029.

Why the tests matter. The ACCelerate test has been validated in a study of more than 2,000 patients across 11 countries, proving up to four times more accurate than scans alone. IMS is also developing what it calls the world's first stratification test for Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome, the most common hormone disorder in women, affecting an estimated 10 to 15% of the female population globally.

What the money does. The funding will optimise the ACC test and certify it to current regulatory standards. "We can now show that it can be reliably performed in existing NHS laboratories, without new machines or additional costs," said Professor Wiebke Arlt, chief scientific officer, who developed the technology at Birmingham.

The signal: The round sits mid-pack for seed deals, but it targets an underserved space. "Women's health conditions such as PMOS have historically been significantly underfunded and underserved," said Priya Reddy, investor at Midlands Mindforge, arguing IMS could change that with a "faster, more accurate route to diagnosis."

Read more: greaterbirminghamchambers.com

Image credit: Generated with Gemini