The development of ways to illuminate cancerous tissue to guide surgeons is a life science innovation that’s attracted a growing amount of interest. Avelas Biosciences has raised $6.85 million as part of a Series B round to advance its fluorescent peptide Cancer Illuminator through the proof-of-concept stage, according to a company statement.
This is how the treatment, based on technology developed by Nobel Prize winner and Avelas co-founder Roger Tsien, works. The fluorescent peptide illuminates the presence of cancerous tissue. When it is used with a fluorescence imaging camera system during surgery, a color-coded image showing cancerous tissue is superimposed onto the surgical view and maps the cancer location for the surgeon.
Although breast cancer is the lead indication, the technology could be applied to other types of cancer.
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Avalon Ventures led the round and new investors Torrey Pines Investment, WuXi AppTec and an unnamed investor also took part.
One advantage of Avelas’ platform is that it can help surgeons evaluate tumor samples in real-time. According to the company, the fluorescent peptide provides enough information to make a decision during the first surgery. Current practice requires doctors to wait for the results of pathology reports before they perform a second operation that can drive up healthcare costs and add to patient risk.
Avelas was founded by Avalon Ventures on technology from Tsien. He won a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2008 for his discovery of the green fluorescent protein, as Xconomy points out.
Among some of the companies that are developing their own approach to illuminating tumors for cancer surgery are Blaze Bioscience and Presage Biosciences.
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[Photo of breast cancer cells from Annie Cavanagh, Wellcome Images]