EIC Accelerator winner Pregnolia is transforming prenatal care
We had the opportunity to speak with Sabrina Badir, CEO and founder of Pregnolia, about the inspiration behind their breakthrough innovation in prenatal diagnostics and their journey securing EIC Accelerator funding.
In this interview, she shares insights into the limitations of current preterm birth diagnostics, how measuring cervical stiffness is changing clinical practice, and how EIC support is accelerating Pregnolia’s path to market and global adoption.
1. What inspired you to focus on cervical stiffness as a breakthrough biomarker for preterm birth?
The cervix is critical for maintaining pregnancy because it must stay firm and closed until birth. Today it is assessed either by ultrasound or by manual palpation, which is subjective and not very precise. We showed that cervical stiffness can be measured objectively and that the cervix softens before it shortens. This means we can detect risk earlier than current methods and give clinicians more time to intervene.
2. Why do you believe existing diagnostic tools have failed to adequately address preterm birth risk?
The cervix, the lower part of the uterus, plays a crucial role during pregnancy. It remains closed to protect the pregnancy and support fetal growth. As labour approaches, the cervix undergoes a series of changes: it first softens, then shortens, and finally dilates to allow for childbirth.
Currently, obstetricians use two main methods to assess cervical status. The first is cervical length measurement via ultrasound, which evaluates how long the cervix remains closed. The second is manual palpation, where the cervix is assessed vaginally to estimate its firmness or softness. In addition, in-vitro biochemical biomarkers are sometimes used to estimate how close the pregnancy is to delivery.
However, these methods have limitations and do not provide a reliable assessment of cervical competency or readiness for birth. Clinicians frequently have to make important decisions based on incomplete or late information. There is therefore a critical need for better tools to evaluate cervical status and to more accurately predict the timing and risk of preterm birth.
Our approach introduces a new clinical parameter: cervical stiffness. Cervical softening is one of the earliest changes in the cervical remodeling process and occurs before measurable shortening. By quantifying cervical stiffness, we provide information that is not accessible with current clinical methods. This enables earlier and more accurate assessment of cervical remodeling, improves preterm birth risk prediction, and supports better clinical decision-making in pregnancy management.
3. How will EIC Accelerator funding accelerate Pregnolia’s path to market and global adoption?
The EIC funding allows us to complete the final steps needed to bring our product to market. We will validate our technology in a large clinical study, finalise and certify our software, and prepare for reimbursement and market entry at the same time. This significantly reduces risk and helps us move faster toward adoption in Europe and the US.
4. What impact do you hope Pregnolia Dx will have on clinicians’ daily decision-making?
Pregnolia Dx helps clinicians make better decisions when a woman presents with symptoms of preterm labour. The main clinical question in that situation is whether the woman is likely to deliver soon or not. Based on this decision, clinicians must decide whether to hospitalise the patient, transfer her to a hospital with a NICU, give corticosteroids or tocolytics, or safely send her home. Our test provides an objective risk assessment within minutes, which helps clinicians intervene when necessary and avoid unnecessary admissions and treatments when the risk is low. This improves patient care while also reducing healthcare costs.
5. Where do you see Pregnolia and prenatal diagnostics five years from now?
In five years, we aim for cervical stiffness to be a standard part of prenatal care. We expect our solution to be widely used for preterm birth risk and expanded into other applications like induction of labour. More broadly, we see prenatal diagnostics moving toward more personalised and data-driven care, and we want to be part of that transformation.
Evolution Europe helped us communicate our innovation more clearly and strategically. We already had strong science, but they helped us translate that into a clear story about impact, scalability, and market potential. This was especially valuable for such a competitive funding process.
Sabrina Badir,
Co-founder and CEO, Pregnolia
