What we do?
Our diagnostic solutions provide clinicians novel tools to estimate cancer aggressivity at the time of diagnosis and help them to select the most effective, and health economical therapies.
CURRENT TARGET DISEASE
- Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)
- Almost one million new cases annually
- 50% mortality rate
- No improvement in survival rate over the decades
- Lack of diagnostic method to identify deadly cancer cases
THESTRA SOLUTION
- Patented EPLINEx™ solution for identification of HNSCC cases that are life threatening
- Artificial intelligence based HNSCC tissue analysis
BENEFITS
- Novel, accurate tool for diagnosis and prognosis
- Facilitated decision-making
- Cost savings
- Less side-effects
- Better quality of life through accurate diagnosis and personalised treatment
Who we are?
Who we are: THESTRA is a start-up company based on over a decade of collaborative biomarker research in Turku University and Turku University Hospital led by docent Sami Ventelä and professor Jukka Westermarck. At THESTRA, world class academic research is combined with very profound business experience creating an exciting business opportunity collectively providing novel cancer diagnostics opportunities to cover unmet medical needs.
News
Business Finland supports Thestra´s product development
Business Finland has granted R&D funding for Thestra´s product, development, and piloting projects.
Cooperation between Thestra and Auria Biobank
Thestra Ltd. and Auria Biobank have signed an agreement to enable the use of Biobank’s material for Thestra’s R&D purposes. This intensifies cooperation between Thestra and Auria Biobank and thus paves the way for further development of Thestra´s operations.
Organizational developments at Thestra
Thestra Ltd. strengthens its operations. Thestra and University of Turku have signed an agreement which will furnish Thestra with high-end laboratory premises at the Turku Bioscience Centre. In this same context Thestra is pleased to welcome PhD Mari Peltola as a Senior Scientist to manage Thestra´s R&D operations.
Thestra announces changes in its Board of Directors
Thestra Ltd. announces that following the company’s Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting it has elected Tom Palenius as the new Chairman of the Board and Alexandra Gylfe from Nordic Science Investments (NSI) as a new Board member. The founders of Thestra Ltd Sami Ventelä and Jukka Westermarck will continue as members of the Board.
Thestra tackles the unsolved diagnostic problem of head and neck cancers
The product developed by Thestra, EPLINEX™, offers a unique diagnostic solution for patients with aggressive head and neck cancer. EPLINEX™ could be used to identify head and neck cancer patients whose disease could be cured with treatments that cause fewer side effects. This type of product is currently completely missing from the cancer diagnostics market, thus there is a significant need for it.
The University of Turku spin-out company secures the first VC funding from Nordic Science Investments
Modern cancer treatment aims for the most effective treatment possible, which would cause the patients as few side effects as possible. The individual choice of treatment for each patient, however, requires diagnostic methods to distinguish patients based on how aggressive their cancer is. Such diagnostic methods are unfortunately very limited and because of this, in many types of cancer, all patients receive similar treatment and thus also the same side effects of the treatment.
Based on the long-term cooperation between the researchers of the University of Turku and the Turku University Central Hospital together with the AURIA biobank, a new cancer diagnostics company, Thestra Ltd, has now been established. Thestra develops a product that could be used to identify head and neck cancer patients whose disease could be cured with treatments that cause fewer side effects. Head and neck cancer (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer and is annually diagnosed in approximately 1 million new patients globally. The product developed by Thestra, EPLINEX™, offers a unique diagnostic solution for head and neck cancer patients. This type of product is currently completely missing from the cancer diagnostics market, thus there is a significant need for it. Efforts have been made for decades to find a diagnostic solution such as EPLINEx™ that could be used to identify the aggressiveness of head and neck cancer in the early stage of the disease.
Thestra and EPLINEx™ are based on the long-term cooperation of the working groups of docent Sami Ventelä and professor Jukka Westermarck with the aim of finding new cancer diagnostic methods suitable for patient use. Docent Ventelä works as a specialist MD at the Turku University Central Hospital and, together with Professor Westermarck, directs the research group at the Turku Bioscience Center. Professor Westermarck also belongs to InFlames Flagship.
EPLINEx™ technology is protected by the University of Turku (patent and trademark). The basic research on which the product is based has been supported by funding from the Academy of Finland and the Erkko Foundation, and the technology has been further refined before the company was founded with Business Finland’s ”Research-to-Business” (R2B) funding.
Thestra’s actual business started this summer when the company received risk financing from the finance company Nordic Science Investments (NSI). NSI finances and supports especially Finnish and Nordic start-up companies whose operations are based on high-level science. NSI has several ongoing negotiations related to other projects that have also emerged from Turku based universities.
Alexandra Gylfe, NSI ” We want to support teams whose work has a strong scientific basis and the product being developed has significant market potential. With the case of Thestra, we see both dimensions coming true, and thus are excited to help enable their growth.
Matti Juvonen, Thestra ” We are looking forward to the co-operation with NSI. Their team has strong experience in supporting the work of growth-stage companies, including diagnostic solutions. In addition, NSI’s international contact networks are a valuable addition to the development and advancement of Thestra’s growth vision.
The first step in Thestra’s business is to launch the EPLINEx™ diagnostic service in Finland and in selected hospitals abroad. The future growth vision consists of the elements that support Thestra’s business. The first goal is to make EPLINEx™ available in most parts of the world in cooperation with diagnostic companies operating in the global market. At the same time, Thestra implements technology renewal plans. Among other things, Thestra is developing artificial intelligence-based digipathology, which makes it possible to further refine the assessment of patients’ prognosis and increase the reliability of treatment selection. In addition, Thestra also aims to expand its portfolio to new cancer diagnostic solutions and commercial cooperation with pharmaceutical companies developing cancer drugs.
For further information, please contact:
Matti Juvonen
Thestra Oy
Chief Business Officer
matti.juvonen@thestra.fi
+358 40 5289784
Docent Sami Ventelä
Turun yliopisto ja Turun yliopistollinen keskussairaala
satuve@utu.fi
+358 50 516 6966
Professor Jukka Westermarck
Turun yliopisto
jukwes@utu.fi
+358 40 7423007
Dr. Alexandra Gylfe
Nordic Science Investments
alexandra.gylfe@nordscience.com
+358-405098733
