Lauren Foster has made it her mission to shed light on endometriosis, a consistently misunderstood and often ignored women’s health issue. Now, with the help of angel investors such as Marisa Fosco, she’s making progress.
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If there’s one thing Lauren Foster knows, it’s endometriosis. A scientist who’s focused her 30-plus-year career on the disease, she has made it her mission to illuminate this consistently misunderstood and often ignored women’s health issue. She’s long been interested in discovering better ways to not only treat, but diagnose the condition.
And now, with the help of angel investors such as Marisa Fosco, she’s making progress.
Endometriosis is when the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, causing inflammation, as well as cysts, lesions and other growths. It affects one in 10 girls and women (as well as an unknown number of gender-diverse people) and incidence rates aren’t slowing. While experts believe more than one million Canadians are presently suffering from a host of symptoms — including pelvic pain, heavy periods and, in many cases, infertility — it’s hard to say how many definitively have endometriosis.
One study published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada found the disease isn’t accurately identified in most people until age 28, even though symptoms often start at the onset of menstruation. Simple math suggests people are suffering for up to 12 years (sometimes more) before they’re properly diagnosed, and the only way to get that diagnosis was to undergo surgery.
“People who have endometriosis see about five different doctors a year and visit an emergency room twice a year. When they do, they usually hear things like, ‘It’s part of being a woman. Get used to it. It’s in your head. It can’t be that bad,’” Foster says. “The pain and dysfunction have been normalized and dismissed for too long. A male presenting with kidney stones wouldn’t be told to buck up. We need to change the landscape.”
Afynia was co-founded in 2018 by Hamilton-based Foster and Jocelyn Wessels, the company’s Ottawa-born-and-raised chief scientific officer. Their team developed a blood test called EndomiR, the world’s first non-invasive diagnostic tool designed to detect endometriosis. EndomiR eliminates unexplained infertility, chronic pain and other symptoms using cutting-edge technology and ultimately leads to faster treatments and much-needed peace of mind for people suffering.
“When green lights kept showing up during research and development, we knew we had something that would make a difference,” Foster says.
As clinical validation studies confirmed the results in various groups of women, they knew it was time to take their test to market.
“Nobody knows the condition better or is more passionate than us, but we didn’t know the first thing about forming a business,” says Foster. “That didn’t deter us. The ability to get people diagnosed is what brought us to where we are now and, so far, the journey we’ve been on has been fantastic.”
Today, Afynia’s revolutionary blood test is being tested in several fertility clinics across Canada; the founders started with fertility doctors because endometriosis is one reason why many women struggle to conceive. Their plans for growth are extensive, including expanding to serve gynaecologists and general practitioners, the physicians who are often first to hear their patients’ symptoms.
Afynia has worked with bioinformaticians to improve its algorithms and EndomiR is now even more accurate than laparoscopic surgery, once the gold standard in diagnosing endometriosis. The founders are currently moving through the accreditation process for their lab and certification in the United States, which is expected to be finalized this spring. They also intend to get the necessary approvals from Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell the test directly to patients.
“So, if you’ve been dealing with pain for six years and you’re tired of hearing it’s a ‘functional problem,’ we will be able to send the test directly to your door. You can collect a finger prick of blood in the comfort of your own home, send your sample to our lab, and we send the results back to you and your doctor,” Foster says. “One physician who’s using the test for cases of unexplained fertility says it’s been a game-changer to provide an accurate diagnosis and to finally see the relief on patients’ faces.”
Foster is quick to affirm the role angel investors have played in how far the company has come. While the co-founders were successful in securing government grants and funding from the Forge (McMaster University’s business incubator), they knew angel investors would be integral in getting tests to physicians.
“We’ve met amazing people from the investment community who see value in what we’re trying to do and want to help,” Foster says.
One of these angels is Fosco, an Ottawa-based investor and a member of Capital Angel Network (CAN). Fosco doesn’t have a background in science (she’s had a successful career in IT consulting), but she was immediately taken with the idea behind Afynia and its women founders, whom she says showed passion, coachability and a clear plan.
“It was actually a double success story for me: female-led founders solving an overlooked problem in the female health space attracted me to keep listening and to give them a second look,” Fosco says. “This team was responsive and cared about our advice, they weren’t just looking for funding.”
Fosco co-led the due diligence effort along with fellow angel Brian Whitestone and says she was impressed with Foster’s intelligence, diligence, confidence and market strategy.
“She was open to all the questions that came up in our due diligence and was quick to hire a CFO who could assist with the business aspects,” she says.
With the help of the angels who’ve backed Afynia, Foster has benefited from introductions to other investors and clinicians.
“I appreciate angels who see our value, even those who don’t have expertise in what we’re doing. These are high-net-worth individuals and many don’t have a medical background, but they saw the opportunity,” she says.
Fosco says that while many women investors tend to come from careers in technology, there’s a great need for women of all backgrounds to explore the various options offered by angel investments.
“We need diversity in both founders and in investors. People see things differently, and we can learn from each other,” Fosco says, adding women who are on the fence about angel investing, whether they come from tech or not, should surround themselves with people who can guide them in their journeys and be patient with themselves.
“That’s something I really love about CAN. I’ve seen our group’s willingness to encourage diversity and offer advice to new angels. When I met some of the women in our group and saw the impact they were having, I knew I wanted to learn more about it and find ways I could contribute to that impact.”
Foster has also found her place in the investor community. “As a founder, having an angel in your corner means you have someone going to bat for you. It’s just like having someone look at you across a desk and say, ‘I know what’s causing your pain, it’s endometriosis,’” she says.
“There’s validation and relief there; you know it’s not all in your head. We really feel supported and we’re going to knock this out of the park. We can’t fail, it’s too important.”
