Spanish medical imaging specialist Quibim heads to Bradfield Centre in Cambridge after support
Spanish-owned medical imaging specialist Quibim has opened its first UK office in Cambridge and has found interest from the NHS in its prostate cancer diagnosis tool.
It has pledged to create more than 10 jobs in the coming years after landing at the Bradfield Centre on Cambridge Science Park.
Quibim’s arrival represents a tangible sign of success for Growth Works, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and Business Board’s dedicated growth service, which provided support as it fosters the region’s leading life sciences cluster.
And it follows further support from partners including Easter Academic Health Science Network (AHSN), which has provided access into NHS trusts for the company.
Quibim’s name is derived from quantitative imaging biomarkers in medicine. It specialises in advanced whole-body medical imaging, deploying AI-guided image analysis to discover critical and evasive health indicators.
It works in partnership with biopharma companies to develop imaging-based diagnostic algorithms and once these models are validated, they are cleared as medical devices and marketed to providers.
Last summer, it took part in an international market access programme for scaling life sciences companies from around the world, run by Growth Works under its international inward investment brand, Locate Cambridge.
Ten companies out of more than 30 applicants were shortlisted in the over-subscribed programme to pitch to a panel of experts.
Quibim was one of the successful participants and pitched to a panel consisting of Start Codon, Illumina, Eastern AHSN and a dealmaker and mentor from the Department of International Trade’s Global Entrepreneurship Programme.
Along with Growth Works, Eastern AHSN - which is funded by the NHS and the government’s Office for Life Sciences - supported Quibim as it chose Cambridge over other parts of the UK, with access to skills, capital and innovation partners also playing a key role in its decision.
Dr Angel Alberich, CEO of Quibim, said: “We are excited about starting our operations in the UK and have been really motivated by the support received from Eastern AHSN as well as the British embassy in Spain.
“Cambridge was definitely our choice because of the life sciences ecosystem as well as the balance between the excellent research environment and quality of life.”
Quibim was selected by Eastern AHSN to present its innovation to its Innovation Review Panel, which found its flagship product, the prostate cancer MRI scan analysis tool QP-Prostate, to fit with NHS operational and delivery plan priorities.
The company, which spun out in 2012 from La Fe Health Research Institute, part of La Fe Polytechnics and University Hospital in Valencia, Spain, was then accepted into the third annual scale-up academy cohort run by Eastern AHSN in partnership with the Triple Chasm Company. The six-week programme provides companies with evidence-based tools and coaching and enabled Quibim to form its scale-up plans.
Eastern AHSN brokered meetings with NHS trusts that have shown interest in trialling QP-Prostate.
Dr Louise Jopling, commercial director at the Eastern AHSN, said: “As a trusted partner to the NHS who understands their priorities and pressures, we have helped Quibim introduce their innovations in a way that resonates and have enjoyed helping establish them as a provider of leading imaging services in our region.”
Austen Adams, chair of the Business Board, said: “Growing our globally competitive life sciences industry is a key aim of the Business Board. It is fantastic news that our dedicated inward investment service through Growth Works has been able to help support such an innovative and pioneering company to invest in our region.
“I look forward to working with the Quibim team and hearing more about their plans for future growth and job creation.”
Rebecca Bekkenutte, managing director of Growth Works, said: “This is the outcome that makes the Growth Works and its International Locate Cambridge Programme such a positive outcome for the entire region.
“It also showcases how the wider support mechanism of the wider Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ecosystem come together to attract high growth and innovative companies into the area. We all have our part to play to ensure a smooth transition and set up for the companies with which we work.”
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