IMcoMet

Basal cell carcinoma is the most diagnosed cancer worldwide, with an estimated annual global cost of €9Bn. Current treatment options are mainly surgery and creams. Both induce significant side effects and patient discomfort. IMcoMET is developing a novel treatment method that will lead to removal of lesions with only minor side effects. It relies on our proprietary technology that allows control of the composition of the tissue microenvironment. The technology is used to replace the immuno-suppressive tumor microenvironment with the adjacent healthy microenvironment. This induces reactivation of the immune system and subsequent destruction of the tumor. Our technology, called local microfluidic therapy (LMT), comes in the form of a microneedle skin patch with integrated nanopumps that is applied directly on the tumor. Patents have been filed for both the treatment method as well as the technology.

We are currently at an early stage of the in vitro validation of our method. This phase will be completed within 8 months, after which we will need to raise €1Mn to finish the pre-clinical package. Later on, a second investment round of €9Mn will allow us to execute the clinical program, before exiting by licensing out the technology to interested MedTech or pharmaceutical companies. We will additionally exploit opportunities via licensing of our technology in the field of health monitoring, diagnostics and tissue engineering.

We are a team of 3 scientists (2 PhDs and 1 MSc) with extensive experience in both academy and industry R&D. Our complementary skills as skin biologist, immunologist and cell biologist perfectly match the requirements for this project.