Brisbane-based health startup Proseek Bio has raised $1.5 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round, with a goal to commercialise its ground-breaking ovarian cancer detection blood test.
With up to 80 per cent of surgeries for suspected ovarian cancer coming back benign, the company says better diagnostics are urgently needed. Proseek Bio’s test aims to support earlier and more precise clinical decision-making, while improving referral pathways and cutting unnecessary surgery.
The OC-Triage is a blood test based ovarian cancer detection test, that identifies specific glycoproteins that indicate a future likelihood of ovarian cancer. It has the potential to change how women are triaged for diagnostic surgery.
Founded by Michelle Hill, Proseek Bio says it has future applications that extend beyond ovarian cancer, to issues like endometriosis triage and other women’s health diagnostics.
“This funding will support the next stage of development for OC-Triage, our blood-based test for ovarian cancer, as we move toward clinical lab deployment and validation,’ Proseek Bio said in a statement on social media.
The company says women’s health has long been framed as “niche” or an “impact category” but in reality it’s one of the most mispriced opportunities in healthcare.
Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological cancers and over 15,000 women in Australia undergo diagnostic surgery for ovarian cancer each year, with many cases diagnosed too late.
The five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer today is the same as the five-year survival rate for all cancers in 1975.
“We’re now seeing that shift: capital is beginning to catch up to the scale of both the clinical need and the commercial potential,” they said.
“OC-Triage is designed to support earlier and more precise clinical decision-making, improving referral pathways and reducing unnecessary or delayed surgery.”
ProSeek Bio says it is now preparing to pursue a Series A raise that will focus on market entry, clinical studies, and regulatory progression.