OncoMark, a University College Dublin spin-out company, has secured €2.1m in new funding.
The funding round included Kernel Capital, through the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Venture Funds, the Irrus Investments syndicate, the Galway HBAN MedTech syndicate, private investors and Enterprise Ireland.
Co-founded by Professor William Gallagher and Steve Penney as a spin-out from UCD's School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, the company is headquartered at NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs.
It develops cancer biomarkers to help treatment decisions and allow more tailored patient management. This ultimately improves the quality of life for cancer patients.
The new investment will fund the commercialisation of OncoMark's lead product, OncoMasTR, which it plans to launch in 2018.
This is a new prognostic test for early-stage breast cancer that will reduce the number of breast cancer patients receiving unnecessary chemotherapy.
Des O'Leary, OncoMark's chief executive said that in the the absence of accurate tests, the majority of early-stage breast cancer patients are treated with chemotherapy despite many not benefiting from the treatment.
He explained that about 70% of patients do not require chemotherapy after initial surgery, but it has been difficult to identify these individuals.
"The OncoMasTR test is designed to enable a more personalised approach to patient care, helping clinicians to determine which patients should not receive chemotherapy, ultimately improving their quality of life," he added.
