Every year, millions of women are diagnosed with breast cancer—and many face chemotherapy even when it may not help. Studies reveal that over half of these patients receive no additional benefit from the treatment, enduring physical and emotional burdens unnecessarily. The solution? Precision prognostic tests that assess the risk of relapse and help doctors make better-informed decisions. But access remains out of reach for many due to high costs, limited lab availability, and long turnaround times. Now, London-based precision diagnostics startup Signatur Biosciences is taking a bold step to fix that.
The company has raised $7 million in seed funding, bringing its total backing to $9.9 million through equity and grants. Led by The Discovery Lab of IBA and supported by Noshaq and other strategic investors, the round aims to decentralise access to high-impact breast cancer testing.
Redefining Access: Same-Day Breast Cancer Prognostics
Signatur’s flagship test, OncoSignatur Breast (OSB), aims to be a game-changer. Unlike most existing tests that are processed in U.S.-based labs and cost upwards of $4,000, OSB is designed to run locally using standard qPCR machines already present in most clinical labs. The result? Same-day turnaround times and a dramatic drop in testing costs—up to 20x lower material expenses thanks to PCRchitectur, Signatur’s proprietary technology.
This approach not only accelerates treatment planning but also allows hospitals to retain diagnostic revenue and improve patient care delivery without being tied to centralised labs. By collapsing a traditionally complex workflow into a single reaction, Signatur is empowering clinicians with accessible, affordable precision diagnostics.
To support its growth, the company is establishing a new laboratory in Liège, Belgium—a leading European biotech hub—where it will expand its team and strengthen partnerships with clinical institutions across the continent.
From Lab Frustration to Scalable Innovation
Signatur was founded in 2022 by bioengineers Celestin de Wergifosse and Dr. John Goertz, both veterans of the Stevens Group at Imperial College London and the University of Oxford. Frustrated by the high cost and limited reach of existing diagnostics, they envisioned a new model—molecular testing that’s decentralised, scalable, and designed to fit within standard hospital workflows.
With scientific guidance from Prof. Dame Molly Stevens, Signatur has become one of the few European startups addressing global healthcare inequity in diagnostics head-on. And while breast cancer is the company’s initial focus, its PCRchitectur platform has the potential to expand into other diseases, setting the stage for a broad portfolio of affordable, decentralised diagnostics.
As co-founder and CEO Celestin de Wergifosse puts it: “Advanced diagnostics shouldn’t be gated by geography. This funding brings us closer to ensuring that patients can benefit from precision testing no matter where they are. We’re turning complex lab processes into simple kits and giving control back to hospitals across Europe and beyond.”
With strong investor backing and a mission-driven team, Signatur Biosciences is not just building a test—it’s building a future where access to life-saving diagnostics is fast, local, and universal.
