Ezra Raises Another $21M for Full Body MRIs Powered by AI That Makes Early Detection Possible for Cancer and 500 Other Types of Diseases

#1

This sounds great, though the issue of false positives (and all the cost that goes along with checking on them) still remains:

Early detection of cancer significantly improves the survival rate (80%), streamlines treatment options, and ultimately reduces the cost of care. However, most early detection efforts are centered around patients who are already presenting with probable cancer symptoms. Ezra offers full-body MRI scans that are powered by AI to reduce the amount of time required to complete a scan, offering a true early-detection option for cancer and 500+ other diseases. The company’s FDA-approved AI technology in scans can be found at leading imaging centers at one of 18 locations in major cities across the US with plans to operate 50 locations in 20 cities by year’s end. While there are other providers that offer full body scans, the costs are typically prohibitive for most with pricing starting at $5000+ per scan. For individuals, Ezra offers three different scan types ranging from $1350 to $2500 with plans to offer a $500 scan in the future; family and multiyear plans are also available. The company founded in 2018 is one of the rare startups that is actually changing the world with its mission to make early cancer detection for all.

AlleyWatch caught up with Ezra Founder and CEO Emi Gal to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, and much, much more…

What’s your business model?
We offer multiple types of scans – our 30-minute Full Body Flash full body cancer screening scan ($1,350), our 60-minute Full Body ($1,950) that includes spine and hips analysis, and our Full Body Plus ($2,500) that includes a low-dose chest CT for lung cancer screening and coronary calcium scoring (for heart health analysis).
The Ezra business model is direct-to-consumer, cash-pay. We accept HSA/FSA dollars and have monthly installment plans available (via Affirm)

Company Website:

6 Likes
Strategies to avoid the grim reaper of Cancer - Part I: Colon Cancer
#2

Related (a story about a person’s Prenuvo scan):

He also says it’s rare to discover an aggressive or harmful finding during a full-body MRI when no symptoms are present. A 2019 analysis of 12 studies spanning over 5,000 asymptotic people, published in the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, found that incidental and indeterminate findings were common for asymptomatic people undergoing full-body MRIs. The analysis of six studies found a 16% prevalence of false positive findings.

“There’s a much smaller proportion of aggressive diseases, which are the ones we’re trying to find, but we’re lost in the haystack of all the other stuff,” Davenport says. “It’s common for the aggressive ones to grow quickly, so we’d have to catch the screenable interval exactly right.”

2 Likes
#3

The CSO of Ezra has a good answer to the false positive issue, and it’s to get more full-body MRIs:

“If you see something and it’s largely unchanged from a prior scan, you can effectively rule it out as an item of concern,” he said. “We don’t want to scan more because we’re afraid of false positives—but, actually, scanning more is the best way to deal with false positives!”

https://archive.ph/zv3C0#selection-1943.1003-1943.1279

1 Like
#4

It’s true. Cancer grows rapidly. You can see the difference as a malignant tumor can easily double in size in a couple of months. I’ve seen it with my in-laws metastatic cancers.

Honestly a PET scan is pretty accurate as tumors light up on these scans as they consume far more energy than other cells. However, you don’t want to be doing a lot of PET scans due to radiation risks.

1 Like