Adelaide-based biotech Ferronova has raised $6 million to advance commercialisation of its technology to help surgeons detect and remove early-stage cancer cells while reducing the risk of undetected recurrence following surgery.
The capital raise was led by existing investors Uniseed/UniSuper, South Australian Venture Capital Fund, Artesian Venture Partners and Renew Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Ultragreen.ai.
It also takes total funding from the Series A round to $17.5 million for the company after raising $8 million in 2023, which was led by Renew.
Ferronova's super-paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles bind to cells found in lymph nodes which aim to enable identification of tissue that could contain cancerous cells.
The company says its technology is designed to support more informed surgical decision-making and address the problem that cancer cells are often not identified by current imaging and that rogue cells may remain undetected in surgery.
Ferronova CEO Stewart Bartlett says while surgery remains the only curative treatment for most patients, surgical research only attracts 0.1 per cent of global cancer research funding.
"We all know someone who had surgery to remove lesions only for the cancer to return and how devastating that can be,” he says.
“The challenge is particularly evident in stomach and oesophageal cancer, where recurrence after surgery occurs in over 60 per cent of patients. Three-year survival can be as low as 41 per cent in stomach cancer and 27 per cent in oesophageal cancer.
"We are pioneering a novel, image guided surgery tracer that is being developed to help pre-operatively identify areas where cancer may have metastasised.
“The aim is for surgeons to perform more precise surgery by better locating lymph nodes at risk of cancer. If successful, that's a game changer.”
Bartlett says about 1.8 million people are diagnosed with stomach and oesophageal cancer globally each year.
“Our ambition is to support an increase in curative outcomes through improved surgical guidance," he says.
Declan Cassells, COO of Ultragreen.ai which is the parent company of Renew Pharmaceuticals, points out that interest in fluorescence-guided surgery is accelerating globally.
"Ferronova's novel approach aligns closely with our focus on fluorescence-guided surgery,” says Cassells.
“Their tracer technology may offer particular promise in complex cancers where conventional imaging approaches are limited.
"We see strong potential in this area of research and believe Ferronova's development program complements our broader commitment to improving surgical precision and outcomes. We are pleased to support their progress into later-stage clinical studies and ultimately commercialisation."
UltraGreen.ai earlier this month listed on the Singapore Exchange, which Ferronova says strengthens its ability to advance its fluorescence-guided surgery platform globally.
Ferronova is currently undertaking a 60-patient, two-year trial of the technology in stomach and oesophageal cancers, with 54 patients enrolled to date.
The trial, which involves the Olivia Newton John Cancer Centre, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Royal Adelaide Hospital and Flinders Medical Centre, is expected to be completed in early 2026.
Ferronova also has plans to continue research in the US over the next two years.
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