Ambicare raises £1.7m for cancer plaster

Published on Friday 23 July 2010 23:09

A MEDICAL device firm in Fife has raised £1.7 million to produce a light-emitting sticking plaster for the treatment of skin cancers.

The fundraising was led by existing investor Longbow Capital, with additional funds coming from the Scottish Venture Fund, publisher DC Thomson and private individuals introduced by the angel investor network Beer & Partners.

Ambicare's lead product, the Ambulight PDT, is used in conjunction with drugs to treat non-melanoma skin cancer, delivering photodynamic therapy treatment (PDT) directly to the skin lesion site. Ambicare recently appointed Schuco to handle its UK distribution arrangements and is targeting other geographic markets.

The firm also announced that Gary Conroy has been appointed sales and marketing director with immediate effect. Conroy was latterly head of aesthetic dermatology UK and Ireland at Sanofi-Aventis.

Ian Muirhead, chief executive of Ambicare Health, said: "Feedback from dermatologists on the Ambulight PDT has been excellent and indicates that we have a product that will make a real difference in how patients are treated for non-melanoma skin cancer.

"We believe that Gary's experience will be invaluable as we commercialise our technology and target widespread adoption of the Ambulight PDT both in the UK and overseas."

Non-malignant skin cancer now affects 15 per cent of the UK population, 40 per cent of the US, and 75 per cent of the Australian populations during their lifetimes. Ambicare said Ambulight PDT had a current potential target market of more than 640m and could approach 1 billion by 2015.