Dysis eyes NHS market after upbeat Nice study

MEDICAL device company Dysis is hoping to break into the UK’s giant healthcare market following positive results from an initial study for an NHS watchdog.

The assessment, carried out for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), found that Dysis’s device was more sensitive in detecting cervical cancer than conventional methods.

The independent analysis also suggests the technology from Livingston-based Dysis could prove more cost-effective than other means of screening.

Alastair Atkinson, chief executive of Dysis, said the report’s findings could lead to a favourable recommendation from Nice when it issues its final guidance in May.

He added: “If Nice was to recommend the product for use in the NHS, then clearly that would be a great boost for us.

“An endorsement from Nice brings a degree of confidence to clinicians and procurement managers.”

The device uses digital mapping to detect early-stage cervical cancer, which can then be treated through the straightforward removal of pre-cancerous cells before they spread.

UK sales of Dysis have to date been limited to a few private buyers, though the product has been evaluated by several NHS facilities.

Atkinson added: “We have got a lot of interest from people in the NHS at the moment.”

The company, which began life as Forth Photonics, changed its name to that of its lead product last year. It now employs eight people, with sales throughout Europe and the US handled by third-party distributors.

The majority of the business is owned by NBGI Ventures, Albion Ventures and Scottish Enterprise, which collectively invested more than £6 million in 2009 to boost commercialisation of Dysis in Europe and the US.

The firm was founded in 2002 by Costas Balas, a professor at Crete University.