Funding supports US clinical trial for cancer marker product

Endomagnetics’ SentiMag instrument and Sienna+ tracer material have been well received by surgeons in Europe and Australasia. The products provide surgeons with a way of locating lymph nodes as part of cancer staging procedures, making them faster, more convenient and cost effective than the traditional radioisotope based techniques.

Endomagnetics’ system also allows the Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (SLNB) technique to be extended to hospitals and clinics without access to radioisotope handling facilities.

“We are looking forward to bringing this important technology to the 40% of patients in the developed world - and the even greater proportion of patients globally - who cannot currently benefit from SLNB procedures,” said Dr Eric Mayes, CEO, Endomagnetics.

Earlier this year, Endomagnetics upgraded its SentiMag probe to a higher performance model only 18mm in diameter, allowing for minimal surgical invasiveness, much improved sensitivity and better handling characteristics.

Commenting on the launch of its Gen2 SentiMag in Australia at the 2014 Australasian Society of Breast Disease meeting, Dr Mayes said: “Our system has been evaluated across Australia and New Zealand, and the interest has created a promising pipeline for our distributor, Aurora BioScience.”

With sales growing strongly across multiple regions through Endomagnetics’ EMEA distributor Sysmex Europe, work is now underway to extend the technology to  help clinicians address melanoma and colorectal cancer.