Submitted by A.S. Quenault on Mon, 12/01/2026 - 12:01
Licensing of scientific discoveries from University of Cambridge and University of Edinburgh is aiming to speed translation and access to life-saving diagnostics for women worldwide.
Medicines360, a women’s health innovation organisation, has acquired global licensing rights to new technologies designed to accurately predict the risk of conditions responsible for 50% of stillbirths, including novel blood biomarkers from the University of Cambridge and non-invasive retinal imaging from the University of Edinburgh.
The newly licensed technologies were discovered and funded through Wellcome Leap’s In Utero program, a $50 million initiative to create scalable methods to measure, model, and predict gestational development. Medicines360 is collaborating with Wellcome Leap to translate scientific discoveries from their In Utero program into products that deliver precision insights across gestation, so that every pregnancy has the best chance of a healthy outcome. These include:
- The University of Cambridge’s new blood-based biomarker discoveries, which could identify the risk of common conditions associated with stillbirth, such as fetal growth restriction, gestational diabetes mellitus, and preeclampsia.
- The University of Edinburgh’s non-invasive retinal eye imaging technology, which aims to detect cardiovascular and metabolic changes during pregnancy.
Prof Paul Kirk, Research Professor in the Biostatistical Machine Learning at the MRC Biostatistics Unit, is a Co-Principal Investigator in the Cambridge team of researchers behind the novel blood-based biomarkers.
Paul said:
This work has benefitted from the close partnership between clinical, laboratory and computational team members. Combining clinical expertise, experimental science, bioinformatics and statistical machine learning methods has been essential for discovering blood-based biomarkers that have real potential to translate into clinical tools.
Paul was in San Francisco last week alongside colleagues Gordon Smith and Steve Charnock-Jones from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology during the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference week for events hosted by Medicines360 and Wellcome Leap to discuss the new technologies.
Dr Andrea Olariu, CEO of Medicines360 said:
We are thrilled to be able to bring these technologies from the discovery stage through development. Our goal is to create lifesaving, innovative products and make them broadly available to all women from day one. Integrating these innovative risk assessment tools into routine prenatal care could dramatically reduce stillbirth rates globally.
Dr Gordon Smith, Chair of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at the University of Cambridge and lead Principal Investigator of the In Utero discovery programme said:
The current approach to assessing stillbirth risk has not changed in 50 years. Our technologies, discovered using exceptionally robust clinical data, can provide clinicians with comprehensive risk stratification at every stage of pregnancy. Ultimately, we believe this approach will save the lives of mothers and babies.”
Globally, there are more than two million stillborn babies every year. In the U.S., more than one in 150 births end in stillbirth - a burden disproportionately affecting families in low-income areas.
Dr Rebecca Reynolds, Professor of Metabolic Medicine, the University of Edinburgh, who is being supported by Edinburgh Innovations, the University’s commercialization service, said:
Drawing on the world-class imaging facilities and data-science expertise at the University of Edinburgh, retinal imaging may provide personalized insights throughout pregnancy to assist clinicians with risk assessment for stillbirth. This is key to early detection, diagnosis, and an individualized approach to intervention.
The licensing agreements form part of Medicines360's M360 ASPIRE™ (Advancing Stillbirth Prevention through Innovative Risk Evaluation) Program.
These technologies are currently under development and have not yet received regulatory approval.