Nordic Life Science 1
LOCAL EFFORTS // CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES Tamara A
lagirova,co-founder and CEO, Moncyte Health Patrik Strömberg, CEO, AnaCardio blood cholesterol levels and remain at elevated risk for CVD. In Finland, diagnostics company Moncyte Health has developed a technology that quantifies individual differences in cellular lipid uptake and storage which link to high blood cholesterol and the effectiveness of common lipid-lowering drugs. The readouts are derived from white blood cells, including monocytes, which play key roles in atherosclerotic plaque formation and inflammation. “Precisely quantifying these individual differences enables personalized treatment strategies in combination with risk assessment which can help patients achieve optimal blood cholesterol levels faster and thereby reduce the risk for CVDs,” explains Tamara Alagirova, co-founder and CEO of Moncyte Health. “Instead of quantifying a biomarker in blood, our diagnostic test provides insight into why the biomarker is altered by looking at the cellular processes which influence it,” she describes. The company has recently joined a 4-year Horizon funded project, FH-EARLY, a consortium of 15 international institutions working together to enable new strategies for earlier diagnosis and co-management of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). FH is the world’s most common inherited metabolic disorder, affecting around 2.5 million Europeans. The project will develop three interrelated solutions for FH: an array for earlier diagnosis, an assay for risk stratification, and co-management strategies. “People with FH present a high cardiovascular risk, but these individuals are often not being clinically identified. Our technology provides valuable insights on how cholesterol is transported and stored in cells. In adddition our technology can help to identify novel factors which contribute to the progression of FH and CVD in general,” says Alagirova. There are many factors that contribute to high cholesterol and CVDs, such as genetics, diet and environment. Regardless all efforts to lower blood cholesterol and prevent CVDs, up to 80 percent of high-risk patients fail to reach cholesterol target levels (Ray et al. DA VINCI study, 2021, Eur. J Prev. Cardiol.) and are therefore at increased risk, emphasizes Tamara Alagirova. “Currently, it is challenging to identify patients with high residual risk that could be prone for developing a life threatening event. Cellular mechanisms differ in individuals, even if they carry the same genetic mutation which predisposes to increased blood cholesterol,” she says. “Consequently, there is significant variability of biological disease processes in individuals, which calls for personalized strategies in lipidlowering treatment,” she concludes. NLS NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG | 53