Micrima, the Bristol-based company behind a safe, low-cost system to improve breast cancer detection, has secured further investment of £1.5m to take its pioneering technology to the next level.
The business, originally a spin-out from the University of Bristol, has secured the investment in its latest funding round, which brought in money from existing and new angel investors and matched funding from the Government-backed Angel CoFund.
Micrima’s MARIA system captures, in just eight seconds, high-resolution, 3D images through the use of harmless radio waves. It allows women of all ages to be screened for breast cancer in GP surgeries or alternative high street locatio
ns.
Following a third successful clinical trial, a significantly larger trial is underway en route to developing a commercial system for its initial market application.
The latest investment will fund further improvements of the imaging system’s performance, the collection of a critical mass of validating clinical data at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital and staffing up for product development and early work on the necessary processes that will enable future regulatory approval.
Micrima executive chairman Roy Johnson said: “We are delighted to have raised our maximum target for this round and will now move up the gears on multiple fronts en route to developing our first product.
“The challenge is now all about building an increasingly valid and impressive clinical database that will convince the radiology community for each application we choose to target.”
Nick Simmonds of YFM Equity Partners, one of the funders, said: “We are very impressed with the level of clinical performance already demonstrated by the system and look forward to working with Roy Johnson and our new co-investors to take the company forward.”
Stephen Brooke of funder Swarraton Partners added: “We are delighted to continue to support Micrima on the back of the excellent clinical results achieved to date.”
Micrima’s MARIA imaging system is not only safer and cheaper than current breast screening methods, it should also provide more reliable results in younger women who are overlooked for screening at present, with the additional benefit of being more comfortable for women undergoing the test.
The MARIA technique uses an innovative radar system developed from land mine detection by a team at the University of Bristol led by Professor Ian Craddock, professor of electrical and electronic engineering, and Professor Alan Preece, emeritus professor of medical physics. The project is founded on Professor Ralph Benjamin’s pioneering work on microwave focusing.
The latest clinical trial, completed in 2011, showed a diagnostic success rate of around 80% and already represents a strong competitor to X-ray mammography in dense tissue. The team are aiming for a success rate of over 90%.
Micrima spun out of the University of Bristol in 2006 with the help of Wyvern Seed Fund, Bath Ventures and NESTA. In early 2008 and late 2009 it raised further finance from Swarraton Partners, South West Ventures and Finance South West Growth Fund.
Breast cancer is the most common cause of death in women between the ages of 35 and 55 in Europe, and the leading cause of death in many countries. Early diagnosis dramatically improves survival rates, yet most tumours are not discovered early enough – particularly in younger women.
