New treatment for fibroid tumours wins Bioinnovation Challenge

It’s not just smart science – it’s smart business and safer medicine.

ABK Biomedical, a company co-founded by Dr. Daniel Boyd, assistant professor in the Faculty of Dentistry, recently won the first ever BioInnovation Challenge for its OccluRad particles, which are used to treat fibroid tumours in women.

The BioInnovation Challenge is a competition designed by BioNova, Nova Scotia’s life sciences industry association, along with several other partners, seeking to create a smooth transition from lab to industry. The award went to Dr. Boyd and his co-investigators: Dr. Bob Abraham, an interventional radiologist, and Dr. Sharon Kehoe, a biomedical engineer and senior post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Boyd’s lab.

The winners were announced on September 28 at BioNova Atlantic 2011, BioNova’s annual life sciences conference.

Avoiding dyes

OccluRad is designed to treat a rather common medical condition: Dr. Boyd explains that 40 per cent of women over the age of 35 worldwide develop benign tumours in their uterus and many of them require a hysterectomy. To try and prevent this, clinicians have begun injecting tiny particles through the skin that impede blood flow to the tumour so it gradually reduces in size.

One problem with this, though, is that the particles can’t be seen in an X-ray, meaning that in order to see if the particles are working, physicians have to use a potentially toxic dye so they show up in the scans. In contrast, OccluRad particles are completely visible during X-rays, eliminating the need for toxic dyes.  

The finalists in the competition were judged based on their products’ innovation, perceived market pull and commercialization potential. The judges saw all three of these elements in OccluRad particles and awarded the prize to ABK Biomedical – the company name Dr. Boyd is proposing be incorporated and have run out of Dal.

The $30,000 prize package includes $10,000 in seed funding and an advisory service package valued at $20,000. This includes legal consultation, mentoring and coaching, market evaluation and assessment, risk and insurance assessment, logistics, etc.

Supportive community

As you might expect, Dr. Boyd and his team are thrilled with their winnings.

“We were blown away,” explains Dr. Boyd. “It’s very exciting simply because as a small company we need all the resources we can get our hands on. The prize package we received is providing us with services you can’t raise through grant money. We’re delighted!”

“We’ve gotten fantastic support from Dal, Springboard Atlantic, and Innovacorp,” explains Dr. Boyd. “The seed money will go towards the additional $500,000 we’re trying to raise to further demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product.”

The next steps for Dr. Boyd will be commercializing or ‘de-risking’ the product and making it a more viable product for doctors to use.

Despite its low profile, OccluRad particles are already a topic of conversation among clinicians who, once given a brief overview of the product, ask simply – how quickly can we have it?