Cervical cancer screening and treatment, close to point of care.

UnaVix is developing a complete pathway for cervical cancer screening, on-site triage and treatment of precancer, for communities far from a laboratory. We are looking for partners and funders to pilot it.

Partner with us Our approach

In 2022, cervical cancer took the lives of 348,189 women1.

Almost 94% of those deaths were in low- and middle-income countries1. It is one of the most preventable cancers2, but many women there cannot reach the services that would prevent it.

Three gaps stand between these women and care:

Results take weeks

Samples travel to a central laboratory. Many women cannot make the long journey back for their results and are lost before treatment.

Too few pathologists

Reading cytology needs trained cytotechnologists and pathologists, who are scarce and concentrated in city hospitals.

Manual staining varies

Pap staining by hand depends on timing and handling. Inconsistent slides are harder to read and less reliable.

Sources

  1. Bray F. et al., Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries, CA Cancer J Clin, 2024.
  2. World Health Organization, Global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem, 2020.

One complete pathway, on site

We follow the WHO's screen, triage and treat approach. Our goal: a woman goes from her first test to treatment without travelling to a city laboratory.

1 · Screen

HPV self-test

Each woman takes her own sample in private, and it is tested for high-risk HPV on site.

2 · Triage

Cytology, read remotely

A cervical sample is taken from HPV-positive women and prepared on a slide. Our automated Pap stainer stains it on site, and a pathologist reads it through our telecytology portal.

3 · Treat

Thermal ablation

Women with precancerous lesions are treated on site. Suspected cancers are referred to a hospital.

Follow a sample from collection to treatment

Where we are today

UnaVix is at an early stage. Our automated Pap stainer is the furthest along; the clinics are still to be tested.

Validated on Pap slides · in pilot testing GyroStainer Our automated Pap stainer, validated on Pap-stained slides at the Geneva University Hospitals and now being tested in pilot studies. In development Telecytology portal Remote review of slides by a pathologist network, with machine learning to point to suspicious cells. Concept · pilot planned Wave and Loop clinics Two clinic models built around the WHO pathway. They do not exist yet: a pilot in Cameroon is planned to test mobile and fixed formats.

What comes next

  1. Pilot the clinicsTest the mobile and fixed clinic formats in a pilot study in Cameroon.
  2. Measure what mattersHow many women complete the pathway from screening to treatment, and the logistics and cost of each format.
  3. Validate the technologyComplete the pilot studies of GyroStainer and validate the telecytology portal in real programmes.

Partner with us

We are looking for partners and funders to run the first pilots with us.

NGOs and health programmes

Bring your knowledge of the community and its health services, and design and host a pilot with us.

Partner on a pilot

Research foundations and funders

Fund the pilot studies that will show whether the clinics get more women from screening to treatment, and at what cost.

Support the pilot

Investors

Back an early-stage team from EPFL and the Geneva University Hospitals working on cervical cancer care close to the point of care.

Talk to us