Ferronova is an Australian startup company commercialising magnetic nanoparticle and molecular imaging intellectual property developed at the University of South Australia, Victoria University in New Zealand, and the University of Sydney. Ferronova’s core program involves hybrid magnetic-fluorescent tracers targeting sentinel lymph node mapping in complex solid tumor cancers such as head and neck and gastro-intestinal cancers. Working closely with the Royal Adelaide Hospital and University of Adelaide head and neck cancer department, the program has included extensive pre-clinical efficacy and safety testing, in multiple species of animals, resulting in ethics approval for a first-in-human trial that is in progress at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. The talk will provide an overview of the technology, describe the program towards CE marking and FDA approval, and provide a case study of clinical workflow in an existing large animal study.
BIOGRAPHY
CLINICAL ADVISOR
Giri Krishnan is an Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Registrar in Adelaide, South Australia. He completed his PhD titled “Innovating surgery for oral squamous cell carcinoma with targeted fluorescent and magnetic tracers” at the University of Adelaide in 2022. Part of this research was undertaken at Stanford University, California, through the Fulbright exchange program and under the supervision of Professor Eben Rosenthal. His research interests include margin analysis techniques, sentinel lymph node biopsy and transoral robotic surgery for head and neck cancers.