SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.– 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.
