Visiopharm · Pathology image analysis software

Blog

  • Strong Consortium Invests in Visiopharm

    ATP, the Danish Growth Fund and the C. L. David Foundation and Collection are among the new investors. The increased capital commitment is an essential part of the company’s growth strategy within the field of tissue diagnostics- and research software for cancer.

    Visiopharm A/S, is developing software for tissue based cancer diagnostics, based on image analysis that integrates precision- and high-throughput pathology in diagnostic workflows. ATP is investing DKK 45 million, the Danish Growth Fund is putting in DKK 20 million and the C. L. David Foundation is financing with DKK 15 million. In addition, the existing investor Northcap Venture Partners has invested a further DKK 15 million. The remaining investment is supplied by smaller shareholders/owners. In addition to the investors, the owners moving forward will thus be comprised of the founders, Michael Grunkin and Johan Doré Hansen, as well as a number of smaller shareholders. The investment is the basis for further international growth.

    Strong concept with growth potential

    Visiopharm was founded by Michael Grunkin and Johan Doré Hansen in 2001 and currently has approx. 55 employees, with headquarters north of Copenhagen and subsidiaries in Sweden, United Kingdom, and in the United States. Visiopharm is primarily selling its core software products for cancer tissue diagnostics and research, but also third-party hardware such as digital slide scanners. Customers are primarily hospitals and major pharmaceutical companies.

    “We have a healthy business with great potential for further growth, which we now have the opportunity to further develop with very strong Danish investors backing us. With our financial advisor, Vator Securities, we have spent the past year exploring the best possible way forward to ensure continued growth of Visiopharm. The solution we have found is very robust and will provide us with the best possible foundation for creating new international growth and establish the company’s solution as the preferred option for cancer- diagnostics and research.” says CEO of Visiopharm, Michael Grunkin.

    Aiming for international growth

    With the new capital, the company can now accelerate both product and market development, which are important steps in the plans for also accelerating its international growth.

    “Today, the international top-tier pharmaceutical companies are using our research software platform for various aspects of their drug development activities. The majority of Danish pathology labs are currently implementing and using our diagnostic software platform for breast cancer, with rapid adoption in Sweden, Norway, Finland and in the UK. For people who depend on tissue data for important diagnostic-, business-, or research decision it is a very powerful value proposition that we can significantly improve both accuracy and throughput with our software.” says CEO of Visiopharm, Michael Grunkin.

    From ATP the capital commitment is based on both Visiopharm’s ability to run a business and the positive outsight for developing the company even further.

    “We see Visiopharm as a very interesting Danish high-tech company that already for years has demonstrated a solid commercial development. Furthermore, Visiopharm has an attractive investment profile based on the growth opportunities in relation to both products and markets.” says Claus Berner Møller, VP for Danish Shares in ATP.

    The Danish Growth Fund also has high expectations for Visiopharm’s future development.

    “We have invested in a company with a strong team, a solid long-term strategy and a product with a huge international potential. Visiopharm’s excellent growth opportunities, exciting technology and strong anchoring in Danish life sciences situate the company in the target group for the Growth Fund’s investments. The possibility of a later IPO in Denmark and thus an even stronger Danish anchoring further adds to our support for the company.” says Rolf Kjærgaard, Chief Investment Officer, Danish Growth Fund.

    For further information, please contact:
    Charlotte Bøggild, Marketing Director at Visiopharm: +45 51 55 50 10, chb@visiopharm.com
    Peter Bruun, Head of Communication and CSR, Danish Growth Fund: +45 40 81 35 46, pbr@vf.dk
    Robert Neimanas, ATP Media Relations: + 45 93 94 02 05, rne@atp.dk

  • Visiopharm Investor News

    Investorer skyder knap 100 mio. kr. i danske Visiopharm

    ATP, Vækstfonden og C. L. Davids Fond og Samling er blandt de nye investorer, der skal sikre den fortsatte udvikling af Visiopharms software til brug for kræftdiagnostik. Det øgede kapitaltilsagn er et afgørende led i virksomhedens plan om en senere børsnotering i Danmark.

    Visiopharm A/S, som udvikler software til billedanalyse af celler til brug i kræftdiagnostik, har sikret sig en større kapitalindsprøjtning til den videre vækst. ATP investerer således 45 mio. kr., Vækstfonden 20 mio. kr. og C. L. Davids Fond 15 mio. kr. Herudover har den eksisterende investor, Northcap Venture Partners, investeret yderligere 15 mio. kr., hvor det resterende beløb indskydes af mindre aktionærer. Foruden de nævnte investorer vil ejerkredsen således fremover bestå af stifterne Michael Grunkin og Johan Doré Hansen samt en række mindre aktionærer.

    Stærkt koncept med vækstpotentiale


    Visiopharm blev grundlagt af Michael Grunkin og Johan Doré Hansen i 2001 og har i dag ca. 50 ansatte. Omsætningen på ca. 60 mio. kr. kommer fra salg af software, som i dag er kerneproduktet, og fra videresalg af hardware såsom scannere. Kunderne er primært hospitaler og større medicinalselskaber.

    ”Vi har en sund forretning med et stort potentiale for vækst, som vi nu får mulighed for at videreudvikle med meget stærke, danske investorer i ryggen. Vi har med vores finansielle rådgiver, Vator Securities, brugt det seneste år på at rejse kapital, og den løsning vi har fundet er meget stærk. Det vil give os det bedst mulige fundament til at skabe ny international vækst og etablere selskabets løsning som den foretrukne til kræftdiagnostik. Det kan også bane vejen for en børsnotering, som er vores mål for de kommende år,” siger CEO i Visiopharm, Michael Grunkin.

    I ATP peger man på, at investeringen er udtryk for, at man gerne investerer i mindre danske virksomheder, når de rette forudsætninger er til stede.

    ”Vi betragter Visiopharm som en højteknologisk dansk virksomhed, der gennem en årrække har dokumenteret en sund forretningsmæssig vækst. Investeringen er et godt eksempel på, at vi i ATP også har fokus på investeringer i mindre danske virksomheder, der har et attraktivt vækstpotentiale som fundament for en senere børsnotering i Danmark,” siger Claus Berner Møller, underdirektør for Danske Aktier i ATP.

    Går efter notering på den danske børs


    Med den nye kapital sætter virksomheden nu ekstra fart på både produkt- og markedsudvikling, som er vigtige skridt i planerne om en senere børsnotering af selskabet.

    ”Vi har tidligere i processen overvejet en børsnotering i Sverige, men på baggrund af de nye danske investorers engagement og perspektivet for et videre samarbejde får vi nu muligheden for at modne og vækste selskabet hen mod en børsnotering i Danmark,” siger CEO i Visiopharm, Michael Grunkin.

    Også i Vækstfonden er der store forventninger til Visiopharms kommende udvikling.

    ”Vi har investeret i et selskab med et stærkt team, en solid langsigtet strategi og et produkt med et meget stort internationalt potentiale. Visiopharms gode vækstmuligheder, spændende teknologi og solide forankring i dansk life science gør, at virksomheden oplagt er i målgruppen for Vækstfondens investeringer. Muligheden for en senere børsnotering i Danmark og dermed en endnu stærkere dansk forankring lægger yderligere til vores opbakning til virksomheden,” siger Rolf Kjærgaard, investeringsdirektør i Vækstfonden.

    For yderligere information, kontakt:


    Charlotte Bøggild, marketingdirektør hos Visiopharm: +45 51 55 50 10‬, chb@visiopharm.com
    Nathali Selmeczi Leth, seniorkommunikationsrådgiver i Vækstfonden: + 45 28 60 01 13, nsl@vf.dk
    Robert Neimanas, presserådgiver hos ATP: +45 93 94 02 05, rne@atp.dk

    Om Visiopharm
    Visiopharm A/S har hjemme i DTU Science Park i Hørsholm. Visiopharms software kan hurtigt og præcist analysere et billede af en vævsprøve i forbindelse med diagnosticering af kræft og udpege de områder, som lægerne bør se nærmere på. Hidtil har den proces været manuel og meget tidskrævende. Aktuelt har Visiopharm en godkendt applikation til brystkræft, men har en pipeline af applikationer til andre kræftformer. Fremtiden byder desuden på udbygning af den AI (artificial intelligence), som allerede er en del af softwaren.

    Visiopharm er markedsleder inden for digital patologi-software, der øger graden af automatisering indenfor vævsbaseret cancerdiagnostik, fungerer som beslutningsstøtte for patologer, og derigennem forbedrer nøjagtigheden i den diagnostiske fortolkning. Selskabets software anvendes i dag inden for cancerdiagnostik, udvikling af cancerlægemidler samt udviklingen af nye cancer biomarkører.

    De fleste af de danske patologiafdelinger anvender allerede selskabets løsninger inden for diagnostik af brystcancer, og en lang række hospitaler i Norden, UK og andre steder i Europa er ved at indføre teknologien i rutinediagnostikken. De biofarmaceutiske virksomheder, kontraktforskningsorganisationer (CRO) og universitetshospitaler anvender Oncotopix®-platformen til vævsbaseret forskning og diagnostik.

    I løbet af de seneste år har Visiopharm udviklet sig til en international virksomhed med over 900 installationer, der hver har adskillige licenser. Visiopharm-software er blevet omtalt i mere end 1.200 videnskabelige publikationer siden 2010.

    Et voksende netværk af autoriserede forhandlere og integrationspartnere er med til at støtte udviklingen af Visiopharm-løsninger på flere kontinenter, herunder Nordamerika, Europa og Asien. Vores hovedkontor ligger i Medicon Valley i Danmark, DTU Science Park in Hørsholm, og vi har et afdelingskontor i Storbritannien samt et nordamerikansk kontor i Broomfield, Colorado. Se mere på Visiopharm APP Center (www.visiopharm.com/appcenter), verdens største og hastigst voksende bibliotek med APP’er (Application Protocol Packages) til diagnosticering og forskning. Eller gå direkte ind på www.visiopharm.com.

    Om Vækstfonden
    Vækstfonden er statens finansieringsfond. Fonden medvirker til at skabe flere nye vækstvirksomheder ved at stille kapital og kompetencer til rådighed. I samarbejde med private investorer og pengeinstitutter har Vækstfonden siden 1992 medfinansieret vækst i over 7.300 virksomheder for et samlet tilsagn på mere end 22,5 mia. kr. Virksomhederne havde i 2017 tilsammen en omsætning på over 98 mia. kr. og mere end 63.500 medarbejdere. Aktuelt medvirker Vækstfondens investeringer til at skabe ca. 10.700 nye jobs om året.
    www.vf.dk

    Om ATP
    ATP blev stiftet i 1964 i henhold ATP-loven med det formål at sikre en større grundpension for størstedelen af den danske befolkning som et supplement til folkepensionen. ATP er et obligatorisk opsparingssystem med mere end fem millioner medlemmer. ATP forvalter aktiver for mere end DKK 700 milliarder, som er investeret i for eksempel obligationer, aktier, fast ejendom og infrastruktur. I de seneste år har ATP lavet signifikante investeringer i vital infrastruktur, herunder bl.a. i Københavns Lufthavn, Ørsted og TDC. ATP opnåede i 2017 et positivt afkast på DKK 29,7 milliarder i investeringsporteføljen. ATP er ligeledes den største administrationsleverandør i de nordiske lande og forvalter to tredjedele af velfærdsydelser udbetalt i Danmark. ATP-koncernen har cirka 3.000 medarbejder og er en af Europas største pensionsudbydere.
    www.atp.dk

    Om Vator Securities
    Vator Securities yder en bred vifte af finansielle rådgivningsservices til førende noterede såvel som unoterede vækstvirksomheder med et særligt fokus på life science, medtech og diagnostik. Vator Securities differentierer sig fra det øvrige marked ved både at kunne rejse kapital fra såvel traditionelle institutionelle investorer og fra sit eget globale netværk af family offices og velhavende privatinvestorer. Vator Securities blev grundlagt i 2010 i Stockholm. Selskabet er et equity partnership.
    www.vatorsecurities.se

  • Visiopharm Releases Version 2018.4 of VIS Image Analysis Software – Adding More User-Friendly Functionalities

    Our digital image analysis software platform continues to evolve and improve in our efforts fighting cancer in histopathology. The new 2018.4 version of VIS Image Analysis Software (for research use only) is ready for our new and existing customers.

    New features and functionalities in the new software include improved usability on:

    • More visible APP information and related APP serial number
    • Implementation of new and improved alignment model
    • Sorting of images in Slide Tray based on their output variable
    • New integrations to Sectra, OME.TIFF slide format integration (for Advanced Multiplexing) and 3D connection mouse
    • Along with several improvements to batch processing using queueing

    We continuously broaden the integration possibilities for our scaleable software solution to fit the needs and volumes of any lab with seamlessly plugs into LIS/LIMS, IMS, VNA, or PACS systems already installed in the lab.

  • Utilization of Deep Learning is Growing in Digital Pathology

    ​Digital Pathology is undergoing a revolutionary change with the introduction of state-of-the-art pattern recognition via/with deep learning. The transition from feature engineering and classical machine learning to end-to-end deep learning has happened at a rapid pace. Some of this fast adoption rate can be attributed to the improved results that deep learning can provide to pathologists while its use as a decision support tool in case management organization is also a driver on the horizon.

    In addition, as Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) gain more computational power, the parallelization required for execution and training of deep learning algorithms continues to improve. This increased performance and decrease in cost of these once expensive “gaming” GPUs have opened a large market for deep learning in digital pathology.

    ​​Deep learning is more than a classifier


    Based on the adoption of deep learning one might be inclined to think that deep learning is just another specific type of classifier such as a Random Forest or K-Nearest Neighbor which have specific rulesets for functionality. However, deep learning is a whole scientific field and there are many different implementations of deep learning frameworks and architectures which can yield a spectrum of results from poor to excellent. When choosing a provider of deep learning, you should be assured that the neural network architecture they are using is state-of-the-art as the field has moved extremely fast in the last several years. 

    Visiopharm has taken the approach of including multiple networks for deep learning in our AI Deep Learning package. The reason for this inclusion is that some deep learning networks are good for one bucket of tasks while other networks are good for a second bucket of tasks and so on. Limiting the user’s choice to a single network is essentially limiting their work to a single bucket and thus reducing the places deep learning can be effective for their science. 

    ​Flexibility in deep learning is required for optimal performance


    Deep Convolutional (or Neural) Networks themselves also have architectures that can be modified so that deep learning is optimized for a given image analysis task, but this requires intimate knowledge of deep learning and its implementations in Python or another programming language. Visiopharm always prides itself on providing its customers with a highly configurable toolbox and deep learning architectures have been added to this list of customizations with the release of AI Architect. 

    AI Architect is an advanced module that lets the user optimize deep learning networks for their needs. This toolbox allows users to enhance the performance of deep learning, speed up deep learning and provides solutions for training when data sources are limited. The best part about the AI Architect: no programming knowledge necessary! The user gets an intuitive GUI from within our AI Deep Learning Author that provides the user with an easy to use suite of settings to adjust AI network architecture to suit their scientific needs. 

    So, whether you have previous practical experience with deep learning, just knowing the basics, or just starting to consider using deep learning in your research, you can use our state-of-the-art deep learning-based platform in your research! 

    Contact Visiopharm today for a demo!

  • OracleBio adds Visiopharm Oncotopix software for Image Analysis

    OracleBio, a global leader in high precision, quantitative digital image analysis services, is pleased to announce an expansion of its software capabilities to include Visiopharm Oncotopix®. Produced by Denmark-based Visiopharm, Oncotopix® software is an advanced platform for computer assisted quantification of immunohistochemistry (IHC) and In-Situ Hybridization (ISH) staining. Oncotopix offers a portfolio of software modules designed for application within cancer diagnostics and for scientists within cancer research and drug development.

    Lorcan Sherry, Chief Scientific Officer of OracleBio commented:

    ‘It is important that OracleBio continues to develop and deliver highly innovative histology image analysis services to support our Client’s pre-clinical and clinical R&D. Visiopharm Oncotopix is highly interactive and infinitely programmable, allowing OracleBio to custom configure image analysis requirements and define new algorithms to meet Clients’ specific requirements.’

    Whilst Visiopharm offers a range of different solutions for digital pathology, the Oncotopix platform in particular will strengthen OracleBio’s Immuno-Oncology service offering. The software provides key features that support oncology research, such as virtual multiplexing, and is a powerful tool for advanced co-localisation studies and tumor detection.

    Lars Pedersen, Director of Sales at Visiopharm, commented:

    “Visiopharm is proud to include OracleBio in our growing base of pre-clinical and clinical CRO clients. The Oncotopix® solution that OracleBio has chosen is designed to match the increasing demand for high quality tissue-based biomarker analysis, shorter turn-around times and flexibility, and we are proud to fuel OracleBio in their ambitions to deliver innovative expert histopathology results with our proprietary solution for in vitro diagnostic applications.”

    Along with OracleBio’s current analysis platform capabilities the addition of Visiopharm Oncotopix will further enhance the company’s service capabilities and puts OracleBio in the unique position of being a multi-image analysis platform service provider.