Company: Cytovale
Co-Founders: Ajay Shah (CEO) and Henry Tse (CTO)
Website: https://cytovale.com
About Cytovale
Cytovale is a diagnostics company redefining how emergency departments detect and manage sepsis, a leading global cause of hospital deaths. Its flagship technology, IntelliSep, is the first FDA-cleared test to objectively assess a patient’s sepsis risk by analysing immune cell behaviour. The test delivers a clinically actionable score in under eight minutes from a standard blood draw.
Cytovale began as an academic research project in 2007 and was formally incorporated in 2013. Over the next decade, the company developed and validated its core technology, culminating in FDA clearance in 2022 and full commercial launch of IntelliSep in 2023.
Since inception, the company has remained focused on developing technologies that interrogate the innate immune response. IntelliSep applies deformability cytometry, microfluidics, high-speed imaging and machine learning to measure changes in white blood cell biomechanics, offering a pathogen-agnostic, host-response approach to sepsis detection.
A peer-reviewed study of over 1,000 patients found IntelliSep has a 97.5% negative predictive value, with zero sepsis-related deaths among low-risk patients. Clinicians can now safely rule out sepsis, reduce diagnostic uncertainty, and deliver faster, more appropriate care. In one case study, the test helped identify hidden sepsis cases over an hour earlier and cut mortality by 30%.
The real-world impact has been profound. After just 90 days of use in a 900-bed US hospital, IntelliSep was linked to:
• Fewer unnecessary blood cultures and IV antibiotics
• Faster triage and accelerated treatment for high-risk patients
• Shorter average hospital stays
• Reduced nursing hours and improved patient flow
As Dr Christopher Thomas, Chief Quality Officer at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, noted: A higher percentage of patients are returning home to their families earlier, at lower cost for them and the hospital. Our ability to improve patient flow has been revolutionary.
Following FDA clearance two years ago, Cytovale has raised $100 million in Series D funding, bringing total investment to nearly $200 million. Backers include CPP Investments, Sands Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, and Breakout Ventures. The company’s goal is to make IntelliSep as essential as troponin tests for heart attacks or CT scans for stroke.
Professor Michael Atar, Cytovale’s lead investor and scientific advisor, has played a pivotal role in bringing this technology from academic theory to clinical practice. A former professor at NYU and an award-winning researcher, his career spans paediatric dentistry, biomedical physics, psychotherapy and medtech. His early support and continued guidance have been crucial to aligning the technology’s development with clinical, ethical, and global health priorities. In parallel with his scientific work, he has trained in parent–infant psychotherapy and remains an active philanthropist, particularly within London’s Jewish community, where his commitment to health, education and community life reflects a broader model of ethical leadership and public service.
Cytovale stands as a model for what translational science should achieve: rigorous, scalable, life-saving innovation. Supported by Professor Atar’s scientific insight and ethical direction, Cytovale is reshaping how hospitals respond to one of medicine’s most dangerous and elusive emergencies.
