Bertis, a Proteomics-Based Early Diagnosis Technology Development Company,

Selected as an Innovative Icon by the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund

- Recognized as a global innovative company that has the potential to grow into a unicorn
- Receiving up to 10 billion won from the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund over three years…

Focusing on developing diagnostic markers for various major diseases
- Accelerating the pace of launch for MASTOCHECK, an early diagnosis blood test solution for breast cancer, in overseas markets
 

<Bertis CI>

Proteomics (a field of study that investigates vital phenomena through an analysis of the functions and structures of hundreds of thousands of proteins present in organisms) based early diagnostic technology company Bertis (CEO: Seung-man Han) announced that the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT) nominated Bertis as a "3rd Innovation Icon" in recognition of advanced technology and potential for overseas market development.

“Innovation Icon Support” is the representative scale-up program of KODIT. It discovers startups with innovative business models and high potential to grow into unicorn companies and supports their growth with funding of up to 10 billion won. For the 3rd Innovation Icon, 216 companies applied, and a total of 5 companies were selected from the high competition rate of 43:1 following document review, presentation assessment, and guarantee review.

Combining proteomics and artificial intelligence (AI), Bertis develops early diagnosis markers for cancer and various other diseases and uses them in its diagnostic services. “MASTOCHECK,” the company’s representative technology, is a proteomics-based blood test solution for early diagnosis of breast cancer that has acquired more than ten patents in Korea and overseas. MASTOCHECK obtained a license from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety as an in vitro diagnostic medical device in January 2019 based on its proven efficacy in the early diagnosis of breast cancer, was selected as an innovative medical technology that could enter the global market and obtain meaningful results, and acquired New Excellent Technology (NET) certification from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.

With the selection of the innovative icon, Bertis plans to develop MASTOCHECK2 with improved performance and speed up the development of early diagnostic biomarkers for other diseases such as cardiovascular disease. Also, the company will make efforts to advance into the overseas market by utilizing various non-financial services provided by Shinbo. Like Korea, the ratio of dense breast women is high, making it difficult to conduct accurate tests with X-ray, the existing breast cancer screening method, as well as in the Asian region and the European and U.S. markets.

“Start-ups that were selected as the 1st and 2nd Innovation Icons have shown rapid growth thanks to the active support of KODIT,” said Seung-man Han, CEO of Bertis. He added, “Bertis will make a greater effort to become a unicorn company that can lead the biotechnology industry in Korea based on the technological ability that we have gained so far.”

Through research since its incorporation in 2014, Bertis has turned itself into a leader in the field of quantitative proteomics. Bertis has a total of 36 domestic and international patents and applications. It was the only Korean diagnostic company in the tumor biology field selected to present in the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO 2019) Annual Meeting and present research results.