OncoMark Hits EU Paydirt Again

/ 8th September 2015 /

OncoMark in Dublin, Arralis in Limerick and Luxcel in Cork have been selected for funding in the latest round of Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Phase 2.

For each project, the participants will receive up to €2.5m (up to €5m for Health-related projects) to finance innovation activities and the development of their business plans. The companies will also be entitled to benefit from up to 12 days of business coaching.

This announcement brings to 34 the total number of Irish SMEs funded so far under the SME Instrument of Horizon 2020 (25 Phase 1 receiving €50,000 each and nine Phase 2 receiving up to €2.5 million each).

OncoMark will receive €2.7m in EU funding over two years for their project entitled: OncoMasTR Novel Prognostic Assay for Early Stage Breast Cancer (OncoMasTR). The company, which employs ten people, plans to double this figure over the next two years. Its focus is the development of novel panels of cancer biomarkers, to aid treatment decisions and allow more tailored patient management, ultimately improving the quality of life for cancer patients.

Des O’Leary, CEO of OncoMark, said: “It is hoped that the product will be on the market almost immediately following completion of the SME instrument project.”

OncoMark has been previously involved in several EU grants covering the development of personalised medicine-orientated assays in breast, prostate and colorectal cancers, as well melanoma.

Biochemist Des O’Leary, also a director of Hibergene Diagnostics, was appointed a director of OncoMark Ltd in August 2015, when he was also allotted equity in the company. In the company’s annual return to November 2014, the company’s shareholders were listed as Stephen Penney (33%), Prof. William Gallagher (33%), UCD (14%), Annette Byrne (8%), Mairin Rafferty (9%) and Senator John Crown (1%).

OncoMark’s accounts to end May 2014 disclose total assets less current liabilities of €973,000, including €964,000 in cash. Government grants amounted to €972,000.

OncoMark principals Máirín Rafferty, Des O’Leary and William Gallagher

Arralis will receive EU funding of over €1.1m for its radar technology project. In the aviation sector, landing helicopters in very poor visibility, such as dusty conditions (brownouts), causes GPS systems and infra-red devices to be inaccurate.

Arralis’s PSR94 seeks to solve this problem providing the capability for high resolution imagery in these difficult conditions. High resolution radars are also required for runway debris and bird control.

Eamonn Boland, Chief Operations Officer at Arralis, said: “The commercialisation process will take two years to complete. After which we will have a commercial demonstrator that can be shown to potential customers.”

Arralis Ltd was previously known as Complisense Ltd and Amideon Technologies Ltd. In June 2014, the company received a taxpayer payment of €300,000 from Enterprise Ireland, in tandem with €500,000 investment from Kernel Capital. In November 2014, the AIB Seed Capital Fund invested €400,000.