Spinout News / UCLB News
Hologic completes acquisition of Endomagnetics Ltd
26 July 2024
Hologic, Inc has completed its previously announced acquisition of UCL spinout company Endomagnetics Ltd (Endomag), a UK-based developer of breast cancer surgery technologies, for approximately US$310m.
The transaction adds Endomag’s wireless breast surgery localisation and lymphatic tracing solutions – including the Magseed® marker, the Magtrace® lymphatic tracer and the Sentimag® platform – to Hologic’s breast surgery portfolio, providing breast surgeons and radiologists with an expanded range of options and enhanced user experience.
Dr Eric Mayes, CEO of Endomag said: “We are so proud of the company we built and the practice-changing breast surgery technologies that we developed following years of relentless research, innovation and deep engagement with clinicians,” said. “As we embark on this new journey with Hologic, I am filled with optimism about the opportunities for our team, our forthcoming innovations and our ability to impact even more women around the world.”
The foundations of Endomag arose from a UK government-funded R&D project back in 2004, which was led by Professor Quentin Pankhurst from the London Centre for Nanotechnology, and which – in conjunction with the University of Houston – generated a prototype magnetic sensing device for use in Sentinel Lymph Node location during breast cancer surgery.
Initial clinical studies provided the foundations for the creation of the spinout company in 2010, that secured seed funding from UCLB, Bloomsbury Bioseed Fund and the Combined London Colleges University Challenge Seed Fund.
This initial investment enabled the recruitment of Dr Eric Mayes, as CEO and employee number one of the company and over the past 15 years, Eric and the team that he has built at Endomag, have navigated a plethora of commercialisation and investment challenges in order to build a world-class company whose magnetic sensing solutions have become the global standard of care in breast cancer staging, with over 500,000 patients treated to-date.
Dr Steven Schooling, Managing Director UCLB, commented: “Creating a successful med-tech spinout is a complex and time-consuming process as you seek to translate research into solutions that satisfy a clinical need.
“Navigating this journey is never easy and the commitment and passion of Eric Mayes, his senior leadership team at Endomag, together with the academic founders and the co-investors alongside UCLB to build a company which has enabled global access to highly accurate breast cancer staging solutions has been truly exemplary. I am immensely proud to have worked with the team throughout this two-decade long journey and to have seen the healthcare impacts that world leading UCL research has been able to unlock.”