Microtraction Adds Advanced Diagnostics Startup Stack Dx To Its Portfolio

By  |  January 29, 2019

Nigerian early-stage VC firm Microtraction has added U.S-based Stack Dx to its portfolio. In a medium post, it was revealed that Stack Diagnostics majors in advanced diagnostic and genetic history tests, providing molecular diagnostic services to patients, doctors, and hospitals across Africa.

As is Microtraction’s standards, the amount involved in the deal remains undisclosed.

About 80,000 Nigerian women die from breast cancer, annually, the World Health Organization says. The same body reports that almost 5 million die yearly from misdiagnosis of hepatitis diseases. These diseases pose a huge health problem in Africa, requiring manifold tests which currently are not accessible in different locations on the continent.

Some 99 percent of Nigerian labs lack testing capabilities, and in the absence of molecular diagnostic tests, doctors warehouse patients or treat them with protein-targeting drugs due to assuredness. Because of the uncertainty whether patients express the protein needed to make the drug effective. A model which is more similar to hit and miss poses a huge problem in the continent.

Stack Dx Is Solving The Problem

The advanced diagnostics startup has created a seamless online platform that connects patients and health experts to genetic tests. A significant number of its tests are yet to be offered in Nigeria, including predictive cancer, pharmacogenetic tests, and liquid biopsies.

The firm is making it possible for health professionals in Nigeria and a numerousness of other African countries provide targeted treatments to patients and prevent misdiagnosis of diseases – all of which is for the very first time.  The startup also partners with leading research groups worldwide to gain insights that may lead to the next breakthrough therapies and molecular diagnostics.

The Lagos-based angel fund investor decided to back Stack Dx because of its team’s uniqueness alongside its massive avalanche of experience in the health and tech industry. The firm’s quality and ability to execute and solve a pressing African problem, has helped them get in Microtraction’s portfolio.

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