Nanoco Group to receive Innovate UK grant

Cadmium-free quantum dot and other nanomaterials developer and manufacturer Nanoco Group was awarded a major grant from Innovate UK, it was revealed on Wednesday, to support its ongoing research into the use of quantum dot nanoparticles within cancer imaging.

The London-listed company said the research project which received the grant - called ‘VIVODOTS nano-devices for detection, resection and management of pancreatic cancers’ - was a continued collaboration between Nanoco and its partner in the life sciences sector, University College London.

It said the project was building on the “significant progress” that Nanoco's life sciences team had made on in-vivo mapping of sentinel lymph nodes and breast cancer imaging.

In support of the project, Nanoco would receive grant funding from Innovate UK of up to £484,689, representing 60% of the costs the group expects to incur, paid quarterly in arrears over a three-year period.

The proposed ‘VIVODOTS’ nano-device would enable more effective pre, intra and postoperative management of pancreatic cancers, the Nanoco board claimed, reportedly resulting in better surgical treatment, higher cure rates, and better quality of life for survivors.

Later development should lead to the extrapolation of the same concept to other types of deadly malignancies, it added.

“As a business, we are proud to be working with a number of commercial and research institutions at the cutting edge of the battle against cancer, and this grant is testament to the scope of our ambition in the life sciences sector and the value of our technology in the clinical arena,” said Nanoco CEO Michael Edelman.

“In this exciting project, we will be working with UCL to develop a groundbreaking cancer imaging therapeutic nanodevice that will enable better detection and treatment of lethal types of tumours, particularly pancreatic tumours.

“The design will be based on the use of biocompatible and fluorescent quantum dot nanoparticles equipped with specific cancer targeting molecules; a major innovation that has already proved successful in our initial trials.”