How Unilabs is Advancing Digital Pathology and Precision Medicine with Proscia

Every patient’s care journey starts with a diagnosis. As our understanding of disease becomes more nuanced, pathologists are expected to deliver increasingly specific answers. Meanwhile, their expertise is in short supply, and demand for diagnostic services continues to rise. Many laboratories are finding it harder to consistently provide the timely, informed answers that patients need to guide treatment decisions. 

For large laboratory networks, going from microscope to digital is only part of the solution. They must also find new ways to amplify expertise across sites and prepare for what’s next. 

Unilabs is one of the leading providers of medical diagnostic services in Europe, delivering 237 million laboratory tests, 6 million imaging exams, and 9 million pathology sections each year. It is committed to using digital pathology and AI to improve diagnosis for its patients and is now using our Concentriq platform to advance its vision. 

“Behind every test is a person with a story of uncertainty, courage, and hope. It is our responsibility to turn that uncertainty into clarity to determine the best course of treatment. Proscia is enabling us to amplify the collective expertise of our network to unlock new levels of care, shape the future of precision medicine, and make meaningful impacts to patients.” — Badhri Srinivasan, Group CEO, Unilabs

Concentriq AP-Dx* provides Unilabs with a shared environment for connecting its pathologists, standardizing workflows, and centralizing AI to drive an efficient, informed approach to diagnosis. In doing so, Unilabs is establishing the digital foundation that it needs to shape the precision medicine future.

Connecting Expertise Across a European Pathology Network

Unilabs’ 350+ pathology specialists and 400+ laboratory technicians span 18+ specialties and 12 countries. Many of them were already working digitally, but their expertise was limited to individual sites. Unilabs saw an opportunity to overcome these silos. 

By connecting Unilabs’ pathologists across sites, Concentriq enables them to share cases in a few clicks, bring in colleagues for second opinions regardless of location, and collaborate virtually—all while supporting diagnostic consistency. Cases can also be routed among sites, helping Unilabs balance workloads across the network. 

Maria do Carmo Tavares, General Manager of Unilabs Portugal, sees this value already emerging:

“Our pathologists can efficiently deliver diagnoses with confidence that patients are receiving the specialized expertise they need. Their day-to-day experience has improved, too. They value being part of a more closely connected community and having access to the latest technology in service of their patients. In a competitive market for specialist talent, this is an important advantage for us.”

Clinicians can also benefit. They gain easier access to expertise from sites across the network.

Making Pathology AI Easily Accessible

Connecting pathologists was only one part of the opportunity Unilabs saw. It also wanted to make the AI applications that support its pathologists reading breast, prostate, and gastric images easily accessible. Concentriq does this through its seamless interoperability.

The platform’s open approach also gives Unilabs flexibility to introduce new AI capabilities as they emerge, without having to rethink the underlying foundation each time.

As Patrick Bornand, Head of Pathology, Genetics & Oncology at Unilabs Switzerland, explains:

“Connecting our pathology network changes what we can offer clinicians and patients. Whether it’s our existing AI tools or the next application that we adopt, our algorithms are brought together on a single platform for our pathologists.”

Laying the Foundation for Pathology’s Precision Medicine Era

Diagnostic applications are just the start of pathology AI. It’s now increasingly moving toward algorithms that can help predict how a patient might respond to treatment. And as this shift happens, pathology's role can expand from confirming disease to providing data that helps guide more informed treatment decisions.

Unilabs recognizes that pathology is taking on an increasingly important role in precision medicine, and shaping that future for its patients is another key part of the opportunity it sees. Having a scalable digital foundation will allow it to incorporate these AI approaches, including image-based companion diagnostics, into practice as they emerge. Additionally, Proscia brings a strong vision for rewiring pathology for precision medicine, which can guide Unilabs as it moves forward.

Dr. Thomas Lindahl, Chief Medical Officer at Unilabs, commented on the potential that lies ahead:

“Pathology has always played a critical role in guiding treatment decisions. What’s expanding is the potential to make the information it reveals even more actionable. As pathology evolves faster than ever, we need a partner that is building for where it’s headed, not just where it’s been. We feel confident that Proscia has a strong vision for that future and will help us to realize it.”

A Shared Foundation for the Future

Unilabs’ decision to work with Proscia reflects a bold ambition and big opportunity to improve diagnosis and lead in the precision medicine era.

Multiple countries are already using Concentriq for routine case review, with more expected to deploy the platform before the end of the year. As they do, Unilabs can increasingly amplify its pathologists’ expertise and expand its digital foundation for what’s next. In doing so, it is also showing laboratory networks around the world what the future of pathology can look like, creating a model for them to follow.

_{*Concentriq AP-Dx is an aid to the pathologist for viewing, managing, reviewing, and interpreting digital images of scanned surgical pathology slides prepared from FFPE tissue, for the purpose of pathology primary diagnosis when used with specified interoperable components. Concentriq AP-Dx is not intended for use with frozen sections, cytology, or non-FFPE hematopathology specimens. Concentriq AP-Dx is FDA-cleared, Health Canada-licensed, and CE-marked under the EU IVDR for pathology primary diagnosis. The Concentriq portfolio includes distinct configurations. Concentriq AP-Dx is cleared for primary clinical diagnosis. Concentriq AP and Concentriq LS are for Research Use Only; not for use in diagnostic procedures. In some geographies, certain AI applications may be interoperable with Concentriq AP-Dx. Contact the AI application manufacturers for regulatory authorization status and indications for use.}