Intervenn launches cancer treatment site in Pasig City

INTERVENN Biosciences, a Us-based clinical technology firm, has opened its site in Ortigas, Pasig City on Friday. While the company is based in the Bay Area of San Francisco, California, the team that maintains the artificial intelligence (AI) technology is made up mostly of Filipinos residing in the Philippines.

In fact, the startup firm’s CEO and cofounder Aldo Carrascoso is a Filipino native based in South San Francisco, California.

The clinical technology firm is pioneering a new Ai-powered approach to predict, prevent, and observe disease progression.

“Intervenn has made significant progress in early cancer detection thanks to the brilliant and dedicated Filipino engineers we have on board,” Carrascoso said at the grand launch of the state-of-the-art office in Pasig on Friday.

The Intervenn, in a news statement issued on Friday said the new site, located at the Podium West Tower, will expand the local team’s roster of developers and engineers that form the backbone running the proprietary AI technology used in the company’s research.

Currently, about 150 Filipinos work on the software engineering stream of Intervenn, with plans to recruit about more local talent as they further expand their business in the Southeast Asian region.

For his part, Intervenn Philippines General Manager Axel Kornerup highlighted that 100 percent of the firm’s software is proudly Philippine-made.

“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,” Kornerup said.

The general manager said that Intervenn has been collaborating with local oncologists in running the VOCAL (Intervenn Ovarian Cancer Liquid Biopsy), which is a testing program 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.

The company, armed with its new facilities and team of researchers, have been aggressive in its recruitment and expansion to support of the development and commercialization of DAWN, a bloodbased 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. According to Intervenn, its application on other tumor types is continuously being studied.

The CEO said the startup firm’s 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.