3 Irish SMEs from Limerick, Cork and Dublin awarded EU funding worth up to €2.7 million
OncoMark Limited (Dublin), Arralis (Limerick) and Luxcel (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 €2.5 million (up to €5 million 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.
OncoMark team (L:R Dr Máirín Rafferty (COO), Mr Desmond O’Leary (CEO) and Prof William Gallagher (CSO)
This announcement today 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). Find out more about these Irish SMEs.
OncoMark Limited (Dublin) will receive €2.7 million in EU funding over 2 years for their project entitled: OncoMasTR Novel Prognostic Assay for Early Stage Breast Cancer (OncoMasTR). The company, which employs 10 individuals and plans to double this figure over the next two years, focusses on 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.
Arralis team (L:R Eamonn Boland (COO), Mike Gleaves (CTO), Oscar Gomez (MMIC Design Engineer), Barry Lunn (CEO), Marie Bourke (Project LEAR).
With better screening systems in place, breast cancer is thankfully being detected at much earlier stages than before. The key issue that is presented for such patients with no obvious evidence of disseminated disease, is whether or not to undergo a rigorous course of chemotherapy.
Mr. Des O’Leary, Chief Executive Officer at OncoMark explains “Currently, the majority of early stage breast cancer patients are treated with chemotherapy, despite many not benefiting from such treatment, thereby exposing individuals to severe side effects. Approximately 30% of patients develop a recurrence of the disease within 10 years after initial surgery for their primary tumour and, therefore, require aggressive chemotherapy, but it has been difficult to differentiate between those whose disease will or will not recur. OncoMark are currently advancing a novel prognostic assay for early stage breast cancer, based on OncoMasTR technology, towards the clinic. This would provide unambiguous results and a high degree of accuracy, while also providing the best reflection of true recurrence rates than any other competitors on the market. It is hoped that the product will be on the market almost immediately following completion of the SME instrument project.”
OncoMark has been/is involved in several EU grants covering the development of personalised medicine-orientated assays in breast, prostate and colorectal cancers, as well melanoma. To date, they have participated in 9 FP7/Horizon2020 research projects.
Listen to Mr. Des O’Leary, Chief Executive Officer at OncoMark explain their project here
OncoMark www.oncomark.com
Arralis (Limerick) will receive EU funding of over €1.1 million for its ground breaking radar technology project entitled: Commercialisation of 94GHz Phase Shifting Radar (PSR94). The PSR94 is a 94GHz Phase Shifting Radar front end to be commercialised and sold primarily to millimetre wave radar systems manufacturers in the Aerospace sector.
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. The PSR94 solves this problem providing the capability for high resolution imagery in these difficult conditions. And high resolution radars are required for runway debris and bird control. In airports, the use of small radars to identify potential danger to aircrafts from birds and debris on the runway would prevent damage to infrastructure.
Eamonn Boland, Chief Operations Officer at Arralis explains “Through this commercialisation programme, Arralis will realise a state of art radar front end to complement our existing 94GHz radar chipset and extended product range. It will be theworld’s first electronically scanned radar front end at 94GHz with the following unique selling points: small, lightweight, low power, ultra-high definition radar front end which can scan a sector or area, electronically with no moving parts. The commercialisation process will take 2 years to complete. After which we will have a commercial demonstrator that can be shown to potential customers.”
Arralis www.arralis.com
Luxcel (Cork) will also receive EU funding for its project. Luxcel www.luxcel.com
Commission invests €93.7 million for innovative SMEs under Horizon 2020 SME Instrument
59 SMEs from 16 countries have been selected in the latest round of Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Phase 2. For each project, the participants will receive up to €2.5 million 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.
The European Commission received 962 proposals under Phase 2 by the second cut-off date of 2015 on 17 June. 357 received an evaluation score above the application threshold and 44 or 12.3% have been selected for funding.
Spanish SMEs have once again been particularly successful with 11 beneficiaries on track to receive €15 million, closely followed by firms from Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and Denmark.
Since the launch of the programme on 1 January 2014, 273 SMEs have been selected under Phase 2 of the SME Instrument sharing more than €387 million.
See more details here
- Participant Portal – lists of all beneficiaries Phase 2
- Map of SME Instrument beneficiaries
- SME Instrument
