Startup treating brain tumours in £2m funding boost

Alderley Park-based QV Bioelectronics is developing cutting-edge technology to treat a rare cancer called glioblastoma

A Cheshire medical startup that is delivering technology to treat brain tumour patients, has secured £2m in pre-Series A funding.

Alderley Park-based QV Bioelectronics is developing cutting-edge technology with the aim of delivering transformative outcomes for glioblastoma patients.

Glioblastoma has some of the worst outcomes of any cancer, which prompted the founders of QV Bioelectronics to take a radical new approach and develop something called a GRACE implant.

GRACE is an Electric Field Therapy (EFT) device and aims to target dividing cancer cells within the brain, without affecting healthy cells.

Currently in pre-clinical development, the funding will be used to support expanded pre-clinical studies to assess the safety and efficacy of the GRACE implant.

The £2m pre-Series A funding has come from a mix of new and existing leading deep tech investors.

The round was led by the Science Angel Syndicate and Fink Family Office with participation from Northern Gritstone, ElbowBeach Capital and existing investors SOSV and Catapult Ventures.

Implantable bioelectronics is at the forefront of emerging healthcare technology, combining the use of cutting-edge materials and interdisciplinary science.

QV Bioelectronics are pioneering its use in cancer care and hope their technology will help provide longer, better quality lives for these patients.

The company is led and co-founded by biomedical engineer Dr Christopher Bullock, CEO, and Dr Richard Fu, a specialty registrar in neurosurgery and brain cancer researcher in the NHS.

The pair said: “Ultimately, we at QV are driven by the challenge to make a meaningful difference to the lives of brain cancer patients around the world.

“It is our aspiration that GRACE will optimise the treatment effects of electric field therapy, whilst working synergistically alongside other existing and emerging cancer treatments.

“We are grateful for the belief and support from our new and existing investors and look forwards to working with them and our other partners as we take the next significant steps toward fulfilling this goal.”

The company’s cutting-edge technology combines the use of the nascent area of advanced materials, precision oncology and surgical innovation.

GRACE is set to be implanted in patients already undergoing surgery to maximise patient safety and cost-effectiveness.

QV have been working with some of the UK’s leading neurosurgeons to ensure GRACE meets the needs of clinicians and fits seamlessly into existing patient treatment pathways.

Lord Stanley Fink said: “I am thrilled to be investing in QV bio’s latest round. Having suffered from a brain tumour over a decade ago, this is a cause extremely close to my heart.

“There has been limited progress in brain cancer survival rates over the past decade when compared to the advances in other cancers and I hope QV bio will help bridge this gap.”