Money for mobile light source

spinout Lumicure, which develops ambulatory light sources for skin treatment, has raised £2.5m in a recent equity funding round to further its expansion.

The financing syndicate was led by Longbow Capital, which specialises in the consumer healthcare and life science sector, alongside their private client Portfolio Service and the Scottish Venture Fund. The funding will be used to take the device, originally developed to treat skin cancer, through regulatory trials and develop products to expand into other medical and cosmetic applications.

Lumicure's founders invented a light-emitting ‘sticking plaster’ which they claim will revolutionise the treatment of skin cancer. Prof Ifor Samuel at St Andrews University and Prof James Ferguson at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, carried out the original work.

Lumicure's product uses organic light emitting polymer (OLEDs) technology powered by simple pocket batteries. The patient wears these in a similar way to a sticking plaster, while the battery is carried like an iPod. This device, which builds on established photodynamic therapy treatment (PDT) methods, reduces pain and allows the patient to be treated at GP surgeries or at home rather than at hospital.