Echolight: the new gold standard in the diagnosis of osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease characterized by low bone mass and the deterioration of bone tissue, leading to increased fragility and fracture risk. While the debilitating effect can be prevented with early detection and effective treatments are available today, the disease is widely under-diagnosed and diagnosed late.

Founded in 2010, Echolight is a medical technology company that aims to change that situation. Echolight has developed the REMS (Radiofrequency Echographic Multi Spectrometry) technique, an innovative, patented solution for the diagnosis of osteoporosis at an early stage, through radiation-free echographic examination. The innovative test can provide an evaluation of bone strength in less than five minutes. It also offers a monitoring solution for osteoporosis that is non-ionizing, cost-effective, reliable, accurate and most importantly perhaps, more easily accessible, thus reducing waiting times. The implications for both patients and the healthcare budgets could be quite significant.

Headquartered in Lecce, Puglia, Echolight is led by a team with over 250 years of cumulative experience in the medical field. Their ambition is to become the new gold standard in the osteoporosis diagnostic market. “The technology currently used is dated,” explains Sergio Casciaro, CEO of Echolight, “but becoming the gold standard takes time. Research, clinical studies, certification, patenting…it is not an overnight process. But our results are very encouraging and we are confident about the future. Ultimately, we aim to improve the quality of life of patients, and that is something very motivating.”

In 2016, the company sought investment to support the clinical validation of this innovative technology and also to invest in marketing and lowering production costs. Panakés, an EIF backed venture capital fund that specialises in medical companies, invested in Echolight’s future. “The investment allowed us to hire a number of scientists to carry out clinical studies in 15 different hospitals across Europe” Sergio adds.

Fabrizio Landi, Managing Partner at Panakés, explains that they immediately recognized in Echolight “the right ingredients to be the winner in the osteoporosis diagnostic market. Their technology can overtake the current diagnostic method limitations such as x-ray exposure and low accuracy, making possible effective screening for this widely under-diagnosed pathology. Early detection is key in prevention.”

Company: Echolight (Italy)

Type of business: Medical devices

EIF financing:  COSME EFG

Financial intermediary: Panakés

For further information about EIF intermediaries in Italy please refer to: http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/it