Meet E2E Ambassador, Giovanna Forte, Entrepreneur and FemTech Pioneer.
Giovanna is the CEO and Founding Director of Forte Medical, Vice President of the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Advisor in TEN The Entrepreneurs Network & APPG.
Giovanna is a Getting Things Done person; a mother at 26, she set up her own business so she could organise childcare for her own needs and those of FirstBorn. For over 16 years Forte Communication served architects, designers and educational institutions.
In 2002 Giovanna’s NHS GP brother Dr Vincent Forte (now retired) invented a groundbreaking medical device; whilst running the PR business, her research confirmed that Peezy Midstream met an overlooked and unmet need for accurate routine urine-based diagnostic medicine.
In 2002 Peezy Midstream (then the Female Freedom Funnel) won the inaugural Medical Futures Innovation Award, sponsored by Astra Zeneca. The AZ price money presented by George Blackledge Global Head of Oncology, funded our original patent applications and kick-started the road to commercialisation.
Since then Giovanna has driven R&D, investment, manufacture, regulatory matters, marketing, clinical trials, sales and distribution. A world-first, Peezy Midstream is the only urine collection method to meet global guidelines in this area of routine medicine and solves the overlooked problem of inaccurate diagnoses and treatment for women’s urinary tract infections (UTI) and antenatal screening.
Current hit-and-miss urine collection methods are unhygienic and undignified; they lead to unreliable samples and the over-prescribing of broad-spectrum antibiotics, making women more susceptible to growing antibiotic immunity.
In the USA Peezy Midstream enjoys a Medicaid HCPCS code that reimburses physicians between $48 and $63, recognising the long-term value and savings delivered by the disruptive device.
Peezy Midstream helps target prescribing and is the only urine collection method to meet Public Health England UK Standards for Microbiology Investigation of Urine; it saves lives and money.
Peezy First Stream is under development, providing concentrated 8-10ml of first-void urine to promote integrity across tests for STI, some early-stage cancers and menopause management.
Peezy Midstream will be available to the UK market in early 2023.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, recently announced an agreement with Forte Medical for the distribution of the Peezy Midstream Urine Collection Device in the U.S.
Through the distribution of the Peezy Midstream device, Thermo Fisher further expands its sample-to-answer capabilities, and continues to provide new, patient-centric solutions that support improved antimicrobial stewardship. “A high-quality sample supports accurate diagnosis,” stated Duncan Porter, general manager, sample collection and transport for Thermo Fisher’s microbiology business.
Forte Medical USA sales and distribution partners:
- Thermo Fisher Scientific
- Owen Mumford Inc.
You can find out more about Forte Medical here.
