Mammogram screener signs GE Healthcare global deal

Matakina's Volpara technology can make it easier for radiologists to spot breast tumours. Photo / Supplied

Breast screening technology company Matakina has received a boost after it announced the signing of a multimillion dollar global deal with GE Healthcare.

The Wellington-based company developed Volpara Solutions - technology that helps improve breast cancer screening by analysing digital mammograms. Breast density (composition) is usually analysed visually by radiologists but this can be a subjective and time-consuming process.

Matakina's technology automatically and objectively gives a breast density score for the radiologist to relay to the woman or her doctor, which can be used to decide whether additional screening might be beneficial, for example using ultrasound.

The global deal will result in GE offering the technology as part of its range of breast imaging products and services, and Volpara chief executive and chief scientist Ralph Highnam said it was an important win for the company.

"It's obviously pretty exciting for us and we see it as a real validation of the work we're doing," Highnam said. "It's good to be working in an area that's making a difference."

Highnam said the deal with GE was worth millions of dollars and said Matakina had been talking to the company for a while and working with its customers for the last five years. He said the move was lifting the company's ability to tap into the global breast screen imaging market, worth around $1.5 billion a year.

The deal comes after the company raised $5.5 million in capital in December, closing the round oversubscribed by $500,000. Several of the investors were fund managers (including the Milford Active Growth Fund) and high net worth investors from Australia and New Zealand.

Ralph Highnam. Photo / Supplied

"With this new capital under our belt, we'll be pushing Volpara sales and marketing further into the US, Europe and Asian markets," Highnam said. "We will also be using the funds to migrate Volpara to the cloud."

The company's largest market is the United States but Highnam said the latest deal would entrench the company firmly in the global market and was already opening doors.

Before the GE deal, the company had 157 installations in 32 countries and had done significant clinical research as well as independent research to validate its products.

"Investors understand that the time is right, the market is ready and that Volpara Solutions is at the forefront of a global revolution in breast screening," Highnam said.

"They want to be part of it."

According to recent research, about 40 per cent of women getting mammograms have dense breasts: either fairly widespread density or extremely dense tissue. Fatty tissue appears dark on the breast x-rays. Dense tissue, "milk-producing and connective tissue" appears white, however so do potentially cancerous spots, meaning they can blend in and be missed.

Volpara's technology analyses the density and probability of missing these spots and can determine whether further scans are needed.

Highnam said the products had been used to scan more than four million women and had detected around 4500 hidden tumours.

He added that early detection was not only important for the patient's chances of recovery but also financially, with figures from the US suggesting that early detection could reduce the cost of treatment from around US$150,000 ($206,000) to US$10,000.

That number could vary with drugs getting more expensive.

Screen time
• Matakina has signed a multimillion dollar deal with GE Healthcare globally.
• The company raised $5.5 million in December.
• Matakina's software provides a breast density score that can be used to determine if further assessment is necessary.
• The software has been used by more than 4 million women and helped detect around 4500 hidden tumours.