EUR 20 million for life-saving software from Flanders

LynxCare’s origins are closely linked to the story of Sharon, an American mother whose infant son had been suffering from a rare disease since birth. Years of examinations by doctors at countless hospitals led to the boy having a patient file several thousand pages long. Due to the lack of overview in this file, it took years before the Sharon’s son finally received the right treatment. This got Georges De Feu, a pharmacist and lawyer who was friends with Sharon and her son’s doctor, thinking. Together with doctor Dries Hens, he decided to establish LynxCare in 2015. 

The Flanders-based start-up uses artificial intelligence (AI) and language technology on patient records kept digitally in Belgian hospitals. “About 90% of that data goes unused, even though this could help individual patient care and scientific research tremendously,” De Feu explains. To turn the tide, LynxCare’s technology converts unstructured patient records into a searchable database. According to De Feu, the technology achieves the high reliability required for critical, medical conclusions. 

De Feu and Hens’ innovative ideas and start-up soon attracted the interest of local as well as international investment funds, which are now jointly channeling EUR 20 million into LynxCare. Among the investors are MTIP (Switzerland), Elaia Partners (France), BTOV (Germany), PMV (Flanders) and Heran Partners (Flanders). 

Meanwhile, LynxCare already has several breakthroughs up its sleeve. At Flanders-based university hospital UZ Leuven, for example, it has worked with the files of patients suffering from a rare, neurological disorder, which the software recognized from a larger population. “These patients are currently undergoing genetic testing, which may lead to them receiving a life-saving treatment,” says De Feu. 

In addition, LynxCare is working with EHDEN, a European project that aims to make health data more accessible for scientific research. “Through data, this project has revealed, among other things, that chloroquine does not work for COVID-19 treatment,” De Feu adds. Other pilot projects are currently underway at university hospital UZ Antwerp (Flanders) as well as in the Netherlands, France and the US. 

LynxCare aims to leverage the fresh capital injection to meet the many requests it receives to provide the software. “We are going to invest heavily in recruiting the people needed to keep up with the demand,” De Feu concludes. “By the end of 2022, we will be around 50 employees strong. Recently, we have signed a major international contract worth EUR 1 million. Moreover, through our collaboration with French company PSIH, which provides digital services to the medical sector, we gain a foothold in more than 1,000 thousand French hospitals all at once.”

In addition, LynxCare has collaborative projects underway with major pharma players, albeit under strict conditions in terms of privacy protection and GDPR. These companies include the likes of AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. 

LynxCare is just one of the many start-ups and other companies that make Flanders’ business and research ecosystem for life sciences & health so groundbreaking. Want to unravel this ecosystem in a virtual yet interactive way? Head to the Flanders360 platform and discover 300+ successful companies, universities, R&D centers, incubators and other players active in Flanders’ life sciences & health industry. 

Alternatively, check out our industry overview to learn more about the available tax, legal and other incentives for establishing your life sciences & health hub in Flanders.