Filipino-Founded Biotech Firm Develops Blood Test for Ovarian Cancer Detection

On a Friday in late July, a biotech company with roots in the Philippines opened its doors in Manila with a promise that felt almost too clean: a single drop of blood, analyzed in minutes, could tell you whether you had ovarian cancer. No surgery. No waiting a week for results. Just a finger prick and an answer.

InterVenn Biosciences, founded in 2017 and headquartered in San Francisco, had come home to announce the test, called GLORI. What made the moment notable wasn't just the science—it was where the science came from. The company's AI platform, the engine that makes the whole thing work, was built and is maintained by roughly 150 Filipinos working in the Philippines. They make up half the company's workforce. One of the three founders, Aldo Carrascoso, is a Filipino AI and blockchain expert. The software, the company's general manager Axel Kornerup said plainly, is one hundred percent Philippine-made.

The test works through glycoproteomics, a field that studies the sugars attached to proteins in the body. InterVenn's AI platform hunts for specific cancer biomarkers hidden in that glycoproteome—a layer of biological information so complex it had remained largely inaccessible until now. The company's platform can compress analysis that used to take months into seconds. Traditional ovarian cancer diagnosis requires a tissue biopsy, which means surgery. The risks of that surgery, especially for liver cancer patients, can sometimes outweigh the certainty of a diagnosis. A liquid biopsy changes the equation entirely.

Dr. Beatrice Tiangco, a consulting scientist for InterVenn and former president of the Philippine Society of Medical Oncology, laid out the practical difference. A traditional biopsy takes at least seven days to produce results. GLORI could deliver them in minutes or seconds. For patients, the shift is visceral: a surgical procedure replaced by a quick blood draw. For a country where many people fear surgical intervention, the psychological weight of that difference matters.

The company has momentum behind it. In 2019, InterVenn raised $9 million. In 2021, it raised $201 million. The three founders include Stanford professor Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi and UC Davis professor Dr. Carlito LeBrilla. But the test itself is not yet available. It remains in development. The company offered no firm timeline, though executives suggested mid-2023 might bring an announcement. Erwin Estigarribia, the chief operating officer, framed it as a marathon, not a sprint. The goal is to match or exceed the accuracy of traditional diagnostics while requiring only a single drop of blood.

On pricing, the company has been deliberately vague with numbers but clear on intent. Carrascoso said they are aiming for a price point that would be affordable even to fishermen in Philippine provinces. The research itself is already underway in partnership with three major Philippine hospitals: the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, The Medical City, and Philippine General Hospital. The test is designed to be ordered by an oncologist after, for example, an abnormal mass has been found. Down the line, Estigarribia acknowledged, a home testing kit might be possible. For now, the ambition is simpler and more rigorous: to build something accurate enough to change how cancer is caught, and to build it in a way that proves Filipino engineers can lead on the global stage.