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MoD spin-out receives £482k for cancer technology

A Ministry of Defence spin-out has received a £482,000 award to develop a pioneering cancer detection technology.

The Merseyside-based Defence Science and Technology Lab spin-out, ProKyma, has created a programme for the “Invention for Innovation” scheme, which backs healthcare projects and brings them up to clinical standards with funding through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

ProKyma’s invention, after six years of development, will improve the detection and monitoring of cancer, and will be able to track changes in the disease during patient treatment.

The low cost, injection-moulded “KymaSep” device will be developed as a result of the NIHR funding to purify and concentrate low numbers of tumour cells, by manipulating the magnetic particles in the blood.

In collaboration with the UK Centre for Tissue Engineering (UKCTE) at the University of Liverpool, ProKyma will become a leader in unique cell capture technology, which will be adopted by the NIHR Liverpool Pancreatic Biomedical Research Unit to test the usefulness of KymaSep for patients.

Prof. John Hunt, Head of UKCTE in Clinical Engineering, University of Liverpool, said: “It’s an obvious broadening of our scientific objective now we can pull rare cells from mixed complex populations, to aim to derive rare cells from human tissue beyond stem cells.

“On the way to providing the right cells for cell therapies and regenerative medicine; deriving cells as the indicators in assays for diagnosis and prognosis is in its own right a valuable and life changing medical goal.

“The translation of the science will benefit cancer research as well as stem cell research. It’s a very exciting project.”

NIHR’s support will also allow the firm to apply for other funding, once the device is developed to a certain standard and qualifies for additional awards.

The Department of Health’s Prof. Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer and chief scientific advisor, commented: “The NHS needs inventive medical technologies to improve the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease for its patients.

“I want to transform research in the NHS. The NIHR i4i programme provides a route for researchers to develop innovative ideas into a reality that could have a significant impact on patients.”

ProKyma’s chief executive, Damian Bond, added: “The NIHR support has come at a very good time for us and builds on six years of expertise and development.

“We are excited to collaborate with the teams from CellCap and the University of Liverpool to develop this much needed, but challenging technology.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .