Meet the start-up: 52North Health

Umaima Ahmad, co-founder and CEO of 52North Health, explains the company’s journey, its innovation and its experience of participating in last year’s Med-Tech Innovation Expo. 

Give us a brief overview about 52North?

52North was founded in 2018 by four post-grads studying a diverse range of disciplines at Cambridge. Our vision is to improve health outcomes and health equity by reinventing care pathways for all people across the world. NeutroCheck is in development by 52North which could significantly improve safety and quality of life for cancer patients at risk of sepsis.

We’ve received £1.3 million in pre-seed equity funding from investors including Cambridge Enterprise, KHP Ventures and Crista Galli Ventures, and £2.3 million in grant funding from Innovate UK, SBRI Healthcare and NIHR i4i, amongst others.

Last year, Prof Sir Leszek Borysiewicz (chair of Cancer Research UK) joined our board, and earlier this year, we became Macmillan Cancer Support’s first ever venture investment.

We’ve been on programmes like the Novartis BIOME, US Med-Tech Innovator, an innovation exchange programme at Cedars Sinai Hospital in LA and have been accepted on to an upcoming programme at Texas Medical Center which we’re very excited about.

We’re all about creating impact through innovation, and doing it while building the kind of organisation we would be proud to see our children working in.

You were part of the Start-Up Zone and PITCH at Med-Tech Innovation Expo last year, how was that experience?

It was great. The event provided a fantastic platform to exchange ideas, build relationships, and expand our networks, and we were impressed by the range of topics covered in the sessions. Everyone there was passionate about their work, and there was a real sense of community and collaboration throughout.

PITCH was a great opportunity to showcase what we are doing in front of a knowledgeable audience, as well as to hear about the exciting things happening at other start-ups.

We are grateful for SBRI Healthcare’s invite to be part of the Start-up Zone. It was altogether a well-organised and engaging event. Also, we recruited somebody who we’d been speaking to but only had the opportunity to meet face-to-face at this event, and she has since become a key member of our team!

Tell us about the company’s journey since being founded in 2018?

It’s been a very exciting and fast-paced one. We have been constantly learning and growing, whether it's been about company governance, fundraising, recruitment, or regulation. It's been an incredibly rewarding experience to watch our company mature and develop.

One key achievement has been building up our team from 1 to 13 people in just two years. This has enabled us to enter into two academic collaborations, one with Imperial College London and one with the University of Cambridge.

We’re also very proud of the development of Neutrocheck, which has gone from an idea to a sketch, to an initial prototype, and finally to a fully developed device and digital platform. We have co-created everything with patients and healthcare professionals along the way, which has added to our learnings and helped us to refine our product to meet the needs of the user.

We are excited about building a portfolio that will have a positive impact on patient care. We believe that our company has a bright future, and we are committed to continuing our journey of growth and learning.

Tell us about Neutrocheck and where the idea came from? 

My co-founder is an oncologist, who sees patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment. He saw what a huge impact the current pathway for neutropenic sepsis had on quality of life for people living with cancer. We knew immediately that this was something that we wanted to solve.

What effect can it have on stretched healthcare resources? 

Introducing Neutrocheck could have a significant impact on healthcare systems across the world. In the UK, it could prevent around 50,000 unnecessary A&E visits each year, allowing clinicians to focus care where on those who are at-risk. By enabling the earlier identification of at-risk patients, it would also provide an opportunity to give early antibiotics, and thereby save hundreds of lives each year across the UK.

What else is on the horizon for 52 North Health?

We’re growing our digital product offering and are excited to be working with new Trusts across the UK. There’s probably not too much more I can say, except to say that we’re always up to exciting things!

Anything else to add? 

A huge thank you to Addenbrookes’ Patient Partnership Group and to the Macmillan Innovation Community, to name just a few of the fantastic patient groups that have given up their valuable time to support us. Many former and current patients have contributed to the development of the Neutrocheck solution, and we are committed to delivering for them so we can provide safer care and peace of mind for people living with cancer.