Team:NUS Singapore/HP/Gold
Human Practices
Business Plan
Gold
Based on the survey results, especially those obtained from Singapore, we found that the participants are generally receptive to bacteria cancer diagnosis and therapy. Hence, to better set up for a potential release of our tool in the field, we proposed to tackle the issues of environment, safety and sustainability via the drafting of a business plan. By integrating the marketing of the RIOT System with manufacturing and financial legislations, we aim to reduce the cost of production of such a tool and the safety-related stigma attached with a new, unknown medical procedure. Every aspect of the RIOT System is meticulously examined in the business plan to ascertain the best possible ways to market, manufacture and measure its retail value whilst still ensuring that it is done in the most safe and sustainable manner possible.
Corporate Identity
NUS_Singapore is a start-up company formed by a group of undergraduates from the National University of Singapore (NUS), interested in developing new diagnostic tools for cancer using synthetic biology technology. Our start-up uses synthetic biological technology to create the Regulated Invasive Organism Targeting System (RIOT System) which consists of three components: The RIOT Sensor, RIOT Responder and the RIOT Invader. Taken together, this system employs a modular concept of integrating different genetic circuits that serve individual functions with crosstalk capability. For the full and detailed business plan of our start-up, please CLICK HERE.
Compelling Rationale -- Game Changer
In cancer treatment, specificity, sensitivity and reliability of diagnosis is the gold criteria of any diagnostic method. The RIOT System employs a novel method of cancer detection, relying on spatial markers that are intrinsic to the tumour microenvironment. Two types of spatial markers are used to increase specificity and ensure that only cancerous cells are targeted. The first spatial marker would be the elevated concentration of lactate usually found around tumours due to the Warburg effect. The second marker would be the detection of CD44v6, a cell surface marker that is upregulated on a variety of cancers. These spatial markers were specially chosen to circumvent a common problem in cancer research, where heterogeneity in different types of cancers results in the lack of a specific diagnostic for a variety of cancers. As elevated lactate concentration is ubiquitous among solid tumours and CD44v6 is present in different types of cancers, our RIOT System has the potential to be a diagnostic that can be applied to multiple cancers, which is advantageous in the current market where broad spectrum diagnostics for cancer are currently lacking. Furthermore, the utility of RIOT System can extend beyond just being a diagnostic and can be modified to deliver a drug payload, potentially acting as both a diagnostic and therapeutic.
Based on our preliminary market analysis of the diagnostics industry, our proposed RIOT System stands out as one of the few in vivo options available for cancer detection. Current cancer diagnostics rely mainly on in vitro laboratory tests for detection of cancer biomarkers (e.g. blood, urine), imaging scans (e.g. CT scans, MRI) or physical examinations to detect the tumour. Thus, our RIOT System offers a radically different diagnostic option that sets itself apart from the current diagnostics.
Financial Strategy
To fund the development of our RIOT system, NUS_Singapore has received a start-up grant from the National University of Singapore Faculty of Science Dean’s Office and will be supplementing additional costs with applications to a range of grants that support start-ups such as the ACE Startups grant offered by SPRING Singapore. Each use of RIOT System as a diagnostic is projected to be sold at SGD$100, a competitive price as compared to other diagnostic kits and tests currently offered in Singapore for cancer detection as those are in the range of SGD$50-$1000. Furthermore, we have made a modest estimate of 3000 units sold within the first year of establishment based on the receptiveness of the participants of our preliminary survey. This will give us a net projected income of $181,711.26 before tax and the provision of salary. This figure is projected to rise in subsequent years because the RIOT System is scalable at lower cost and some of the fixed costs incurred are one-off payments such as registration fees for the company (see section 6).
Marketing Strategy
Our marketing strategy was designed according to our preliminary market survey conducted amongst the Singaporean community. The statistics revealed that while the public is receptive to the RIOT System, they are cautious about the safety aspect of such a diagnostic tool. Therefore, the marketing strategy would be to educate the public about how the RIOT System is actually safe for in vivo use through a two-pronged approach, through seminars in universities to educate students about the system and through family-based workshops in Community Centres (CC). These are done in the hope of addressing the safety aspect of the system and hopefully allow for greater acceptance and demand for our product. Regular assessments of our marketing strategy will also be done through Post Action Reviews (PAR) and revised as per changing market trends.
Research and Development
After the initial launch of our RIOT sensor product, we will continue improving the sensor by increasing the types of cell receptors it can target. In addition, our ongoing research can be financed by allocating part of the profits obtained into continual development. Indeed, we aim to invest SGD$100,000 from our first profits into production, research and development activities in the next year. This will ensure that RIOT System enjoys continual improvement and fuels its development, entering more markets and in turn, become a more widely used system in different diseases and in different capacities as a diagnostic and a therapeutic. We also plan to research and develop other sensor-based system that can detect other metabolites in the blood and also target other cellular receptors for the development of diagnostic tools for other diseases.
Conclusion
Our RIOT System is a dynamic product that has enormous potential. Having the capacity to advance as a therapeutic with the alteration of the genetic circuits to introduce an anti-cancer agent, the beauty of the system lies in its flexibility to cater to different specifications. As the underlying mechanism of the various sensors is modular, with one genetic circuit controlling one sensor, different sensors can be developed for detecting other targets. For example, the RIOT System can detect another cell surface marker instead of CD44v6 and this thus expands its utility in detecting other forms of cancer as well. Our start-up hopes to gain over $181000 in projected income in the first year, and subsequently a projected growth of 5% year on year, and we are extremely confident in meeting that target. Therefore, we feel that the RIOT System offers a unique product to the diagnostic market and with its dynamic nature, still has much untapped potential that will drive its continued growth in the medical industry.
