RCSI spin-out company raises $1.7m to expand cancer-treating drug system

Using unique liquid formulations, the OncoLize technology delivers a range of anti-cancer drugs for conventional chemotherapy as well as modern immuno-drugs

Pictured (l-r, front row) Dr Ian Nicoud, Libertatis Ergo Holding; Dr Aoife Gallagher, Head of Innovation, RCSI; Professor Helena Kelly, OncoLize co-founder and CSO, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, RCSI; Mike de Leeuw, OncoLize founder and CEO; (back row) Dr Luuk Hawinkels, Leiden University Medical Centre; Dr Leo de Leede, OncoLize co-founder; Professor Fergal O’ Brien, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, RCSI; and Rob Mayfield, Libertatis Ergo Holding.

A spin-out company developed by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland has closed a $1.7m (€1.54m) seed investment round to extend their preclinical success with a local drug delivery system to treat pancreatic and lung cancer.

The company holds a worldwide, exclusive license for the OncoLize technology platform invented by Professor Helena Kelly at the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences.