Ezra, a New York City-based cancer screen company, has announced that it has raised $4 million in seed funding. This round of funding was led by Accomplice. Founders Future, Credo Ventures, Seedcamp, Esther Dyson, and several other startup founders and angel investors are also participating in this round.
How does it work? Ezra developed a direct-to-consumer membership service where men have the ability to get a prostate MRI scan — which can be analyzed by radiologists to screen for cancer. As of right now, Ezra is available through an invite-only beta program in New York City at a cost of $999 per year.
This program was set up through a partnership with outpatient imaging company RadNet. And Ezra members will be able to get their prostate MRI scans at RadNet’s Lenox Hill Radiology facility in Manhattan.
“We should all check our bodies for cancer as part of our routine health regimen. To make that possible, we’re aiming to combine a better patient experience with the most advanced medical imaging technology and the Ezra AI. Our goal is to improve the speed, accuracy and affordability of cancer screening” said Ezra’s CEO and co-founder Emi Gal in a statement.
For American men, prostate cancer has the highest incidence and it is the second leading cause of cancer death behind lung cancer. It is estimated that 1 in 41 men will die from prostate lung cancer. And prostate cancer screening is currently done using a prostate-specific antigen blood test along with a prostate biopsy if the PSA levels are elevated. However, research is showing that PSA levels are often inaccurate, which results in unnecessary biopsies. And prostate biopsies sometimes cause side effects like infections and urinary issues.
According to a recent study, it was determined that if prostate biopsies were directed by MRI findings, up to 18% more cases of clinically significant may be detected. And Ezra’s MRI scans are analyzed by board-certified radiologists to help screen for prostate cancer, which may allow a large number of men to avoid an unnecessary biopsy.
Ezra is also developing artificial intelligence technology called Ezra AI, which is designed to help radiologists in their analysis. And Ezra is looking to receive marketing authorization from the FDA next year.
“Ezra’s uniqueness stands as much in the company’s investigational AI technology as it does in its innovative consumer-centric cancer screening model,” added RadNet’s Medical Director John Crues, M.D. “I am excited to be partnering with Emi and his team to make MRI-based prostate cancer screening available to all men at risk of prostate cancer.”
