Endomag is a

medical device A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ran ...

, headquartered in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, UK, with a US office in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. Originally incorporated as Endomagnetics Ltd, the company was founded in 2007 and produces surgical guidance products which assist

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

s in locating and removing

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

ous tumors, predominantly for

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

surgery. The company's products are distributed by

Leica Biosystems Leica Biosystems (founded 1989) is a medical devices company that develops and supplies clinical diagnostics to the pathology market. It is also a research, instrument, and medical device company as well as a division of Danaher Corporation. Co ...

in North America and

Sysmex Corporation is a Japanese company headquartered in Kobe that is engaged in the health care business. Originally called TOA Medical Electronics (a branch of the TOA Corporation), the Sysmex brand was established in 1978, and were mainly involved with haematol ...

across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The company's location at

Cambridge Science Park The Cambridge Science Park, founded by Trinity College in 1970, is the oldest science park in the United Kingdom. It is a concentration of science and technology related businesses, and has strong links with the nearby University of Cambridge. ...

is central to

Silicon Fen Silicon Fen (also known as the Cambridge Cluster) is the name given to the region around Cambridge, England, which is home to a large business cluster, cluster of high-tech businesses focusing on software, electronics and biotechnology, s ...

, the cluster of

high-tech High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...

businesses in the area which form one of the most important technology centres in Europe.

History

Endomag was founded in 2007 as Endomagnetics Ltd as a

University spin-off University spin-offs (also known as university spin-outs) are companies that transform technological inventions developed from university research that are likely to remain unexploited otherwise. They are a subcategory of research spin-offs. Promi ...

from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

and the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

. Helped by initial

seed money Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' su ...

from

UCL Business UCL Business PLC is the technology-transfer company of University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London, England. Its head office is on Tottenham Court Road in the London Borough of Camden. History UCL's first technology-tra ...

, Endomag has continued to develop its

magnetic Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particle ...

sensing technologies to improve

minimally invasive procedures Minimally invasive procedures (also known as minimally invasive surgeries) encompass surgical techniques that limit the size of incisions needed, thereby reducing wound healing time, associated pain, and risk of infection. Surgery by definition ...

for

oncologists Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

. In June 2014, the company acquired the magnetic hyperthermia assets of the US-based Actium Biosystems. In 2015, the company moved offices from

to its current headquarters at The Jeffrey's Building on the St John's Innovation Park. The office was opened by

Lord Sainsbury Baron Sainsbury was created in 1962 for Alan Sainsbury in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. There have been two other peers with the surname "Sainsbury" who included their surname as part of their titles; all are from the Sainsbury family, names ...

. In July 2018, the company announced a further round of

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

funding, a

Series C A venture round is a type of funding round used for venture capital financing, by which startup companies obtain investment, generally from venture capitalists and other institutional investors. The availability of venture funding is among the ...

for $10m (£8m) led by

Draper Esprit Molten Ventures, formerly Draper Esprit, is a venture capital firm, investing in high growth technology companies with global ambitions, with offices in London, Cambridge and Dublin. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent ...

, the European arm of

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

investor,

Tim Draper Timothy Cook Draper (born June 11, 1958) is an American venture capital investor, and founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ),

's venture capital business.

Technologies

Endomag's Sentimag probe is a sensitive

magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, o ...

which detects either an implantable magnetic marker, Magseed, or an injectable superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle tracer, branded Magtrace. The Magseed marker is placed in a tumor under imaging guidance prior to surgery, and located and removed during surgery. The company's

probe can indicate the distance from the Magseed marker, which helps guide the surgical excision of the cancerous tumor. The Magtrace liquid marker is injected near the tumor prior to surgery and migrates to the

lymph nodes A lymph node, or lymph gland, is a kidney-shaped organ of the lymphatic system and the adaptive immune system. A large number of lymph nodes are linked throughout the body by the lymphatic vessels. They are major sites of lymphocytes that includ ...

draining the primary tumour, the so-called ‘sentinel’ nodes. These can then be detected and excised during a sentinel lymph node biopsy procedure. The company's products are a radiation-free alternative for

surgeons In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. Endomag's Magseed marker product has received

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...

510(k) The United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (abbreviated as FFDCA, FDCA, or FD&C) is a set of laws passed by the United States Congress in 1938 giving authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the safety of f ...

clearance for localizing tumors in soft tissue in 2016 and its Magtrace and Sentimag Magnetic Localization System received FDA premarket approval (PMA) in 2018 to identify and remove sentinel lymph nodes in women undergoing mastectomy for breast cancer.

Awards

The company has won a number of business, engineering and science awards since its inception. In 2015, the company was shortlisted for the

MacRobert Award The MacRobert Award is regarded as the leading prize recognising UK innovation in engineering by corporations. The winning team receives a gold medal and a cash sum of £50,000. The annual award process begins with an invitation to companies to ...

, a leading UK engineering award. The following year saw Endomag awarded with an

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...

Commended Innovation award. In 2018, Endomag received a

Queen's Awards for Enterprise The Queen's Awards for Enterprise is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation, sustainable development or promoting opportunity (through social mobility). They are the highest ...

in the Innovation category. In July 2018, the company was presented this award by

Julie Spence Julie Spence, is a retired British police officer and activist. She served as the Chief Constable for Cambridgeshire Constabulary from 10 December 2005 to 5 September 2010, and made headline news over demanding fairer funding due to the rise in ...

OBE, the current

Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British monarch's personal representative in the counties of the United Kingdom. Lord Lieutenants are supported by an appointed ...

. In October 2018 the company received a Business Innovation Award from the

for its use of magnetism for minimally invasive surgical guidance.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.endomag.com Companies based in Cambridge Medical technology companies of the United Kingdom Medical device manufacturers

History

Technologies

Awards

See also

References

External links