Aurum’s technology was originally developed within the Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology at the University of Glasgow and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The company was spun out via Scottish Health Innovations Ltd, the commercial arm of NHS Scotland.
Stroke is the second biggest killer worldwide with one in six people having a stroke by the age of 75. Someone has a stroke worldwide every two seconds and approximately 152,000 people a year suffer from a stroke in the UK alone and seven million worldwide. However, there is only one authorised medicine to treat acute stroke, unlike the dozens of products available to treat other major diseases such as cancer or heart disease.
The company has raised approximately £3m ($4.5m) in a combination of equity and convertible loan funds from investors in UK and USA, including Tricap (Melrose, Scotland), the Wellcome Trust and the Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise.
The funds will be dedicated to the company’s core strategy of developing its lead technology GOLD, for use in stroke diagnosis and treatment, as well as a pipeline of products for other areas of unmet medical need.
Aurum is pioneering this ground-breaking technology that will not only act as a stroke treatment, but will also allow doctors to detect brain tissue at risk, thus helping doctors to diagnose and improve the care of stroke victims.
Aurum is completing the final preclinical studies at Glasgow University and planning to conduct its first clinical trial in stroke patients in the near future at the new Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, in Glasgow, one of the UK’s largest acute care centres.
Jim McGuire, Aurum’s CEO, said: “Our products provide hope for the many patients, carers and healthcare professionals who live with the consequences of this devastating condition. We look forward to making our novel products available to patients at the earliest opportunity.”
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