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
Stewart was a co-founder of medical device company Signostics. From 2005-2017 he was COO of Signostics, managing product development, manufacturing, quality, regulatory, customer service, OEM partnerships, and at various times sales and marketing. Prior to Signostics, he held several management positions at Lake Technology Ltd, including managing director of a subsidiary responsible for licensing Lake’s technology. He has worked in a variety of management, engineering and sales and marketing roles in Australia, the United States, and Europe, and holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering with Honors from Curtin University and a Master of Business Administration from The Australian Graduate School of Management.