Mirvie Expands Leadership Team with Appointment of Alison Cowan, M.D. as Head of Medical Affairs

Dr. Cowan brings more than a decade of experience as an OB/GYN to Mirvie to propel clinical and commercial development of the Mirvie RNA platform

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mirvie, a pioneer in predicting unexpected pregnancy complications, today announced the appointment of Alison Cowan, M.D., M.S.C.R. as Head of Medical Affairs. Dr. Cowan will guide Mirvie’s continued clinical and commercial development of the proprietary Mirvie RNA platform, which is first to predict preeclampsia and preterm birth months before they happen by revealing the underlying biology of each pregnancy.^[1],[2]

“As a practicing OB/GYN, Dr. Cowan brings rigorous clinical experience to our fast-growing team,” said Maneesh Jain, Co-Founder and CEO of Mirvie. “Her first-hand knowledge of the challenges that moms, expecting families and their doctors and midwives face during pregnancy will be invaluable as we shape a new future of proactive, personalized and preventive pregnancy care. I am thrilled to welcome her to Mirvie’s leadership team.”

Dr. Cowan has dedicated her career as a board-certified OB/GYN to advancing women’s and pregnancy health. Previously, she led Medical Affairs for Hologic's Diagnostic Solutions division. She is passionate about advancing access to innovative diagnostics in women’s health, health equity, and contributing to improvements in maternal and infant health. With over 12 years of clinical experience in both academic and community settings, she maintains a clinical practice as an OB/GYN hospitalist in Northern Colorado. She received her medical degree and master’s in clinical research from Emory University and conducted her OB/GYN residency at Northwestern University.

“The team at Mirvie is addressing a staggering unmet need, as 1 in 5 pregnancies are impacted by complications,^[3]” said Dr. Cowan. “In my practice, I encounter patients impacted by preeclampsia and other complications during every call shift. These complications are incredibly common, but until now we’ve lacked the tools to accurately predict who will develop them. With the groundbreaking Mirvie RNA platform, we will soon be able to predict complications months before they occur. This is a giant leap forward in pregnancy health because we can begin to move beyond simply reacting to complications as they arise and shift the focus to prevention.”

For the first time in history, the Mirvie RNA platform can reveal the distinct underlying biological causes of unexpected complications that were only hypothesized before. ^[1],[2] Peer-reviewed, clinical evidence shows this breakthrough has the power to transform how we detect, prevent, and treat pregnancy complications. It enables tailoring existing interventions to patients based on their unique biology and allows the development of new interventions directly targeting their distinct causes.

Landmark research published in Nature (January 2022) demonstrates the Mirvie RNA platform can identify 75% of women who go on to develop preeclampsia months before symptoms occur. Mirvie is currently developing a test designed to predict preeclampsia, which recently received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Breakthrough Device designation. Additionally, research published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (April 2022) shows the platform can predict 76% of early preterm birth cases and identify distinct biological pathways driving its development.

About The Mirvie RNA Platform

The proprietary Mirvie RNA platform combines revolutionary analysis of tens of thousands of RNA messages from the baby, the placenta and the mom, with machine learning. The platform opens a new window into pregnancy health for expecting parents to act and their doctors to intervene before unexpected complications become a crisis. It enables proactive, personalized and preventive pregnancy care for the well-being of expecting parents and babies. Mirvie is conducting ongoing clinical research to validate existing peer-reviewed evidence, to enhance the Mirvie RNA platform performance, and to improve the understanding of other pregnancy complications.

About Mirvie

Mirvie is shaping the future of pregnancy health by providing women, expecting parents and their doctors with an early detection window to intervene before unexpected pregnancy complications become a crisis. One in five pregnancies is impacted by complications that lead to lifelong health consequences for expecting parents and babies. The proprietary Mirvie RNA platform uses a simple blood test to reveal vital information about a pregnancy’s unique biology and detect complications months before they occur. The idea for Mirvie was sparked by the personal experience of one of the founders whose daughter was born prematurely. Mirvie’s team of world-class scientists and entrepreneurs have brought to market category-first, non-invasive tests in both women’s health and in early cancer detection, used by millions today. Founded in 2018, Mirvie has raised more than $90 million in early-stage financing from top-tier investors, including Decheng Capital, Foresite Capital, General Catalyst, GV, Khosla Ventures, and Mayfield. Mirvie is based in South San Francisco, California. To learn more about Mirvie, please visit www.mirvie.com.

References:

[1]:Rasmussen, M., Reddy, M., Nolan, R. et al. RNA profiles reveal signatures of future health and disease in pregnancy. Nature 601, 422–427 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04249-w

[2]: Camunas-Soler, J., Gee, E., Reddy, M., et al. LB 2: Early prediction of spontaneous preterm birth in a high-risk population using cfRNA profiling. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Vol. 226, Issue 1, Supplement , S779, January 01, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2021.12.019

[3]: Trends in pregnancy and childbirth complications in the U.S. Blue Cross Blue Shield. Published June 17, 2020. Accessed August 6, 2022.