Participated · Seed · Jul 2024

Afynia Laboratories builds a blood test called EndomiR that detects endometriosis by measuring a panel of circulating microRNA biomarkers and using an algorithm to compare expression profiles to surgically confirmed cases. The company spun out of McMaster University and was founded in November 2021 by researchers including Dr. Lauren Foster and Dr. Jocelyn Wessel, with Dr. Jake Prigoff as CMO. Afynia is positioning EndomiR as a non-invasive alternative to surgical diagnosis, aiming to shorten long diagnostic delays for people with pelvic pain or infertility. The startup plans to seek regulatory approval as a laboratory-developed test (LDT) in Canada and expects a Canadian launch potentially as soon as this summer, with a U.S. launch targeted for early next year. Longer-term plans include expanding the microRNA platform to additional women’s health diagnostics and exploring lower-blood-volume sampling (e.g., finger-prick) though that is not yet available. Financially, Afynia has raised a $5M seed and previously about $1.5M in pre-seed funding from academic and angel backers. Afynia Laboratories is a medtech startup developing EndomiR, a proprietary microRNA panel run by PCR and an algorithm to generate a risk score for endometriosis from a single blood tube. The company was founded in 2021 by former McMaster University researchers Lauren Foster and Jocelyn Wessels and is based in Hamilton, Ontario. Afynia has completed studies expanding to 300 patients, participated in a CIHR-funded 1,000-patient study, and reported reproducibility across labs with only ~3% variance. The startup is pursuing a laboratory-developed test pathway in a CLIA-certified laboratory, has registered with COLA, and expects full regulatory compliance by September. On the commercial side, Afynia is serving eight fertility clinics and 35 fertility doctors, has surpassed C$100,000 in revenue, and operates a lab with capacity to process 50,000 tests per year. Longer-term plans include commercializing EndomiR in Canada and the US and then rolling out additional women’s health diagnostic products covered by other patents.