Author: ONB
Moncton-based Breathe BioMedical (formerly Picomole) is a medical technology company that is developing a first-of-its-kind screening device for detecting several cancers, Alzheimer’s, and other diseases via a breath test.
The company’s website notes that “breath analysis allows for timely screening which benefits practitioners in identifying health issues early, which will lead to saving healthcare resources, and more importantly, saving lives.”
CEO Dr. Stephen Graham says it’s been a big year for Breathe BioMedical, with independent clinical research studies in COVID-19, lung cancer, and breast cancer and a full rebranding from their former Picomole name. “The COVID data has been accepted to the American Thoracic Society (ATS), and while that information is currently embargoed, we anticipate being able to discuss those findings later this year.”
Breathe BioMedical now also holds an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 13485:2016 certificate. “ISO certification means we now manufacture our breath sampler to that standard. This is extremely important as many a breath research paper will cite – as a limitation – the standardization of the collection of breath,” notes Graham. “We can now tell the world that we manufacture our breath samplers under the ISO 13485 standard. We are very much ‘legit’ in this field thanks to this certification. This level of certification goes a long way towards putting our little Moncton-based medical device company on the international map.”
Graham says there have been many advantages to operating a digital health company from New Brunswick. “Our breath sampling findings all end up in a data set. We then apply machine learning techniques to our data set to provide solutions,” he says. “Support from ONB and other partners will help us continue to build out that machine learning capacity. We have worked closely with Dr. Erik Scheme at the University of New Brunswick’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering; he and UNB have been excellent partners on all of this.”
He also credits the New Brunswick Small Business Investor Tax Credit with the company’s success to this point. “The Investor Tax Credit has enabled us to grow our visibility with and access to New Brunswick investors. The ability to do our work in a region that’s very affordable, and to have the Investor Tax Credit allowing us to raise the capital we need are two of the most significant advantages we’ve seen from being headquartered in New Brunswick.”
With the pandemic hampering many activities, Graham says the company stayed focused on further developing its technology and ISO certification. Like everyone, Breathe looks forward to a return to normalcy. “ONB has been great at being a connector for us, helping us with travel activity including trade missions. They’ve done a great job connecting us to all the right people both inside and outside New Brunswick, and even outside of Canada,” he notes. “Hopefully 2022 will see more of that outreach and travel, as well as fewer obstacles for us in terms of collecting clinical data. The pandemic has somewhat hampered that too.”
Graham says the Moncton team has grown to 18 full-time employees, and they are actively recruiting for several positions. “People should definitely visit our website’s Join Our Team page for open roles. We’re currently looking for a physicist, preferably with experience in optical systems. We are also looking for an accountant and an electrical/firmware engineer. It’s a great team we’ve assembled; come be a part of it.”
Learn more about Breathe BioMedical’s innovations at https://breathebiomedical.com/.
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