InterVenn Biosciences, a Filipino-founded clinical technology (biotech) company based in Silicon Valley, expects to bring in over half a billion peso investment into the Philippines by end this year and more job opportunities to Filipino software developers.
Axel Kornerup, InterVenn Philippines general manager, revealed this during a hybrid press conference Friday, July 22, for the launch of its state-of-the-art office in the Ortigas Center as the biotech firm solidifies its hold in the Southeast Asian region.
“We are very happy because we are bringing in resources into the Philippines. We expect that by end of 2022, InterVenn would have brought in over half a billion pesos into the Philippine economy,” said Kornerup.
The amount would be the company’s capital expenditures in the Philippines, majority of which would be spent to run its biggest network operating center. Some of the amount would be used for lease, payroll and other operating cost.
InterVenn is pioneering a new AI-powered platform to decode and unlock the potential of the glycoproteome at clinically meaningful scale for the development of transformational healthcare solutions for the first time in history.
To optimize this entirely new dimension of biology, the company has developed a platform capable of producing a robust pipeline of powerful clinical applications, ranging from early disease screening to diagnostics and potentially therapeutics. InterVenn will contribute to making the new era of personalized, predictive, and preventative care a reality. The glycoproteome is a source of life-critical information about human biology that has the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes, but it has remained inaccessible due to its vast complexity
In addition, Kornerup they are providing jobs to Filipino software developers.
As of today, InterVenn has about 150 Filipino employes in the Philippines, majority of whom are software developers. Hiring, however, has been paused due to the current market situation, but is still actively pooling local talents as it looks to start hiring again around the last quarter this year.
Kornerup noted that its Podium office can accommodate 400 individuals, but is currently hosting 250 workers only.
“Our CFO (chief operating officer) is doing his job and being very prudent because of the current market situation, but we still plan to expand in the future,” he added noting they are preparing for their expansion in the region.
While the company is headquartered in the Bay Area of San Francisco, California, the team that maintains the AI technology are made up mostly of Filipinos residing in the Philippines, including its co-founder and CEO, Aldo Carrascoso.
“Our research is a major step towards a truly universal healthcare. We’re proud to be making these phenomenal developments in the Philippines, and we look forward to working with more local stakeholders in the future,” said Carrascoso.
InterVenn has made significant progress in early cancer detection thanks to the brilliant and dedicated Filipino engineers we have on board. They help build and maintain the front end, back end, and cloud infrastructure of our next-generation liquid biopsy, as we all work together to reach a world where no one should ever be blindsided by disease, said Carrascoso as he discussed its products GLORI™ and DAWN™.
By employing a proprietary platform powered by artificial-intelligence (AI) and mass spectrometry, InterVenn’s products have the potential to significantly advance diagnosis and treatment in cancer and other related fields. InterVenn has developed the world’s first technology platform to interrogate and decode the glycoproteome which will help accelerate the shift from the healthcare industry’s traditional focus on disease management to the new realm of preventive care and health management.
Kornerup said InterVenn has been collaborating with local oncologists in running VOCAL (InterVenn Ovarian Cancer Liquid Biopsy) testing program using 100 percent Filipino-made software.
“We started this venture with the goal of not just having the means of finding a cure and early detection for cancer, but to also showcase to everyone that we Filipinos can achieve this on a global scale,” said Kornerup.
InterVenn, which was also co-founded by world-renowned scientist and Stanford professor Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi, UC Davis professor Dr. Carlito LeBrilla, and Carrascoso, an expert in AI/ML and blockchain, recently raised P10 billion in series C investments last year.
The company, armed with its new facilities and cadre of researchers, has been aggressive in its drive to support the development and commercialization of DAWN™, which they unveiled last month in the health industry’s largest conference for oncology ASCO 2022. Its application on other tumor types is continuously being studied.
DAWN™, a blood-based test aimed at helping physicians appropriately match cancer patients to the best possible immuno-oncology therapy, which they unveiled last month in the health industry’s largest conference for oncology ASCO 2022. Its application on other tumor types is continuously being studied.
GLORI™ is the world’s first glycoproteomic, liquid-biopsy laboratory-developed test (LDT) for ovarian cancer diagnosis that has been validated using both retrospective patient samples and samples collected prospectively in InterVenn’s VOCAL clinical trial.
The VOCAL (InterVenn Ovarian Cancer Liquid Biopsy) testing program is being conducted in partnership with local oncologists. It validates blood tests to aid in the accuracy of doctors’ diagnoses of masses in the lower abdomen are cancerous or not.