Endomag selected as finalist for top engineering award

UCLB spinout company Endomag has been revealed as a finalist for the UK’s most prestigious engineering award.

Endomag, which was shortlisted for its innovative breast cancer staging diagnostic system Sentimag^® and Sienna+^®, is one of three companies up for the MacRobert Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering.

The award is the longest-running national prize for engineering and has a reputation for spotting the next big thing in the tech sector. Entries are judged on being outstanding innovations, with proven commercial promise and tangible societal benefit and the winner will be announced on 16 July.

The news follows Endomag’s relocation of its Cambridge headquarters to larger offices due to its rapid growth this year, as well as the opening of a new US office in Austin, Texas, in preparation for expansion into the American market.

The company’s pivotal US trial of its Sentimag^® and Sienna+^® system is underway and significant continued growth is anticipated through international sales expansion. More than 6,000 breast cancer patients have been treated to date across Europe and Endomag is now developing systems for therapeutics in other types of cancer including melanoma, prostate, bladder, thyroid, colon and cervical.

Dr Eric Mayes, CEO at Endomag, said: “It’s fantastic to gain the recognition from such a highly-regarded award and it couldn’t have come at a more exciting time in the company’s history – being a MacRobert Award finalist is a real honour.”

Dame Sue Ion DBE FREng, Chair of the MacRobert Award judging panel, said: “Each of this year’s finalists has demonstrated remarkable drive and determination to achieve technical advances that can make a considerable difference to many aspects of our lives. The variety and standard of engineering skills behind each innovation is testament to the UK’s strength in the sector.

“Innovative engineering is the key to our future growth in the UK and we will have to make increasing use of our knowledge and creative talent if we are to take advantage of this opportunity. These three companies are great examples of engineering for growth in action.”

About UCLB
UCL Business PLC (UCLB) is a leading technology transfer company that supports and commercialises research and innovations arising from UCL, one of the UK’s top research-led universities. UCLB has a successful track record and a strong reputation for identifying and protecting promising new technologies and innovations from UCL academics. UCLB has a strong track record in commercialising medical technologies and provides technology transfer services to UCL’s associated hospitals; University College London Hospitals, Moorfields Eye Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the Royal Free London Hospital. It invests directly in development projects to maximise the potential of the research and manages the commercialisation process of technologies from laboratory to market.

For further information, please visit: www.uclb.com

About Endomag
Endomag is dedicated to improving the global standard cancer care for everyone, everywhere, by developing a new, effective clinical platform that uses safe magnetic fields to power diagnostic and therapeutic devices.

Endomag’s first approved products are the Sentimag^® and Sienna+^®, CE-approved for marketing and sales in Europe, and TGA-approved for Australasia.  Sienna+^® is a magnetic tracer injected into the body and the Sentimag^® is used to track its presence, locating lymph nodes as part of a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) procedure.

By avoiding the need for traditional radioactive isotopes in sentinel lymph node biopsy, Sentimag^® and Sienna+^® improve workflow and lower costs, enhance patient comfort and quality of life, and provide a better standard of care available to everyone, everywhere.

For further information, please visit: www.endomag.com

About the MacRobert Award
First presented in 1969, the MacRobert Award is widely regarded as the most coveted in the industry. Founded by the MacRobert Trust and supported by the Worshipful Company of Engineers, the Award is now presented by the Royal Academy of Engineering after a prize fund was established with donations from the MacRobert Trust, the Academy and British industry.

For more information, visit: www.raeng.org.uk/prizes/macrobert

Previous winners include EMI Ltd, who in 1972 developed the CT Scanner, a vital medical device that can now be found in almost every hospital in the developed world. In 2002 Cambridge Display Technologies won the MacRobert Award for its light emitting polymer displays, which are now used extensively in televisions and smart phones. the 2013 winner was software company RealVNC, which judges predicted could be a billion dollar company within five years.

The judging panel for the MacRobert Award 2015 is as follows:

Dr Dame Sue Ion DBE FREng (Chair)
Consultant; Chair, Nuclear Innovation Research Advisory Board

John Baxter FREng FRSE
Group Head of Engineering, BP International Ltd; Master, the Worshipful Company of Engineers

Nick Cooper FREng
Director, JN Cooper & Partners Ltd

Keith Davis
Chairman, The MacRobert Trust

 Professor Sir Richard Friend FREng FRS
Cavendish Professor of Physics, University of Cambridge

Dr Andrew Herbert OBE FREng
Formerly Chairman, Microsoft Research EMEA; Emeritus Fellow, Wolfson College, Cambridge Visiting Professor, UCL

Dr Gordon Masterton OBE FREng FRSE
Vice President, Jacobs Engineering; Deputy Chairman at Construction Industry Council

Peter Saraga CBE FREng
Chairman of the Advisory Board, Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme

Dr Frances Saunders CBE FREng
President, Institute of Physics; Trustee, Engineering Development Trust; formerly Chief Executive, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL)

About the Royal Academy of Engineering
As the UK’s national academy for engineering, we bring together the most successful and talented engineers for a shared purpose: to advance and promote excellence in engineering.

We provide analysis and policy support to promote the UK’s role as a great place to do business. We take a lead on engineering education and we invest in the UK’s world-class research base to underpin innovation. We work to improve public awareness and understanding of engineering. We are a national academy with a global outlook.

We have four strategic challenges: Drive faster and more balanced economic growth; foster better education and skills; lead the profession; promote engineering at the heart of society.