About NanoEcho - NanoEcho

Diagnosis of the spread of cancer cells to nearby lymph nodes

We want to offer a more accurate, simple, and cost-effective diagnosis of rectal cancer in the first place. There are currently no reliable methods for determining with certainty whether rectal cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes. However, this is an important marker of how far the rectal cancer has progressed.

At NanoEcho, we are developing a new user-friendly imaging method called magnetomotive ultrasound, which combines nanotechnology with modern ultrasound technology. The amount of accumulated nanoparticles allows differentiation between healthy and diseased tissues.

Our history

NanoEcho is a Swedish company based in Lund. It was founded in 2013 by a research group at the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Lund University. At that time, patents were registered, and the focus was research. In 2019, NanoEcho raised capital. In 2020, the current organisation began to be established under the leadership of CEO Linda Persson.

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We expect to be able to solve an important clinical problem in rectal cancer diagnostics. The technology itself also has many other potential applications such as the detection of prostate cancer and the identification of dangerous plaques in blood vessels as well as an important tool for stem cell therapies.

Tomas Jansson

Professor of Medicine and Technology and founder of NanoEcho

Vision

That all rectal cancer patients receive a correct diagnosis and thus an optimal individualised treatment

The system should be used in patients with rectal cancer. By determining whether the rectal cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes before surgery, the medical team can offer a more reliable diagnosis as well as a better and more individualised cancer treatment. As a result, the number of risky surgical procedures is reduced, and more patients can instead undergo a less complicated procedure. This leads to both lower costs for care and a better quality of life for the patient.

We will achieve our vision by making NanoEcho’s diagnostic system part of the standardised course of care.

Strategy

NanoEcho initially focused on developing a system and clinical method for the diagnosis of rectal cancer. Our ambition is for examination with NanoEcho’s system to become established clinical practice and part of the standardised course of care for rectal cancer patients.

Product strategy

Product development is led by NanoEcho – in collaboration with leading suppliers

Manufacture by key suppliers

Regulatory focus:
1) CE-marking, EU
2) South America, Asia, Australia
3) USA

Product development is led by NanoEcho in collaboration with world-leading companies in imaging diagnostics: Vermon in France for the hand-held ultrasound probe, us4us in Poland for the imaging device, and SPL medical in the Netherlands for the iron-oxide-based nanoparticle. The work is led by NanoEcho’s team of experienced senior employees with extensive experience in both product development and the commercialisation of medical devices.

As the market launch approaches, the focus will gradually shift from optimising the product to ensuring time and cost-effective series production. We can thus ensure a good delivery capacity to the end customer. Manufacturing takes place at key suppliers.

The initial regulatory focus is CE marking for the European market and then registering the product in other markets where the CE marking is the basis for regulatory approval. In a third step, the company plans approval for the North American market.

Customer strategy

Collaboration with leading university clinics

Clinical evidence and acceptance via “Key Opinion Leaders”

Sales through distributor partnerships – charge per examination

The strategy is to establish collaborations with leading university clinics through investigator-led studies. Two investigator-led clinical development studies are ongoing at Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Skåne University Hospital. These studies are conducted on resected rectal cancer tissue and provide us with important information for both product and method development as well as for the design of our upcoming clinical registration trial – a study required to get the system, including nanoparticle, approved for marketing in Europe. We plan to carry out this study at strategically important university clinics.

Physicians involved in the diagnosis of rectal cancer will be those who use our system in everyday clinical life. Professors in rectal surgery and other rectal cancer diagnosing physicians in university hospitals are important opinion leaders. They are key persons in determining clinical practice. We have therefore established close cooperation with them during method/product development and clinical evaluation. In the next step, they will be important in the conduct of our clinical registration study.

The company plans to build sales through distributor partnerships and charge per examination. We plan to establish sales through partnerships with major medical device companies, which are already established distributors of imaging equipment.

NanoEcho will initially focus on recruiting leading rectal surgeons at reputable university hospitals to participate in the clinical registration study. The plan is that these clinics will then develop into centres of excellence and that the establishment of the clinical method will spread from these surgeons and clinics to the healthcare sector.

We plan to apply the “razor-blade model”. Our diagnostic system, which consists of an imaging scanner and a hand-held probe, is sold at cost price. We then charge per treatment through the sale of consumables. We can thus create a continuous revenue stream throughout the life cycle of the system.

NanoEcho’s way to the market

Ambition

– to remain part of the standardised course of care

Today, established clinical practice for mapping rectal cancer and determining its spread includes tissue analysis (biopsy), computed tomography of the chest, and magnetic resonance imaging of the pelvic region. The results of the three studies provide a basis for diagnosis and prognosis as well as choice of treatment. Unfortunately, there are limitations with these methods when it comes to mapping the spread to nearby lymph nodes.

NanoEcho aims to become part of established clinical practice in rectal cancer diagnostics as well as the standardised course of care. The company intends to contribute to a more reliable mapping of rectal cancer spread to nearby lymph nodes; this is important information in order to enable a more individualised cancer treatment and thus an increased quality of life for patients.

Tissue analysis (biopsy)
Tissue from suspected tumour is separated via a minor surgical procedure and analysed by a pathologist using microscopy in order to distinguish between healthy and diseased tissue.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Magnetic resonance imaging to study the primary tumour and possible spread of metastases to the lymph nodes.

CT thorax
Sectional radiography of the chest using X-rays to map any spread of cancer cells to the chest.

NanoEcho’s method
Complements the MRI scan, thereby mapping possible rectal cancer spread to nearby lymph nodes with better precision.