ABK Biomedical of Halifax aims to have its treatment for uterine fibroids ready to roll out in Canada within 18 months with the help of a $1.25 million fundraising round announced yesterday.

The company, which was developed by researchers at Dalhousie University, has received a $500,000 equity investment from a group of Atlantic Canadian angels, $250,000 in venture capital from Innovacorp and a $500,000 loan from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

ABK Biomedical also announced that it has hired a chief executive, Pat O’Connor, a former executive with Boston Scientific, one of the world’s leading makers of minimally invasive medical devices. Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Daniel Boyd told a press conference yesterday that the funding should provide it with enough money to bring its first product to an ``inflection point’’, meaning it’s a market-ready product that has the approval of Health Canada. He said the company intends to employ about seven people during that time.

ABK Biomedical first gained attention in September 2011 when it won the first BioInnovation Challenge organized by BioNova, the Nova Scotia life sciences association, for its development of OccluRad, which is tiny bio-compatible glass beads used to treat uterine fibroids, or benign tumors in a woman’s uterus.

About 40 percent of women over 35 worldwide develop these tumors, and many require a hysterectomy. Yet doctors are now tackling this problem by introducing particles through the skin, which attack the tumors and starve them of oxygen so they eventually wither. The problem is the particles are invisible to X-ray, so doctors have to introduce a dye into the patient’s system so the particles can be seen and traced in X-rays to make sure they’re working.

ABK Biomedical’s innovation is the development of new particles that are visible, meaning the dye is no longer needed. Not only does this reduce the cost, it also saves 20 minutes in the procedure, meaning doctors can treat about two more patients per day. And the dye can be toxic or lead to an allergic reaction, so the risks of the treatment are reduced with the OccluRad particles.

“These products should be of significant assistance to women who suffer from this affliction, and this assistance will help to bring them closer to the patients who need them,” said Boyd. “It is gratifying to see research that was done right here in Halifax moving closer to market-readiness.”

Boyd said the company is working toward regulatory approval in Canada rather than the U.S. because the American market is now considered riskier because of recent changes in the Food and Drug Administration regulation procedures. He admitted the Canadian market is one-tenth the size of U.S. market, but added that ABK would follow Canadian approval with an application to launch the product in European Union.

OccluRad was conceived of by scientists at Dalhousie, including Robert Abraham and Sharon Kehoe, and developed with $20,000 funding from Springboard Atlantic, which Boyd said took the company “from what essentially was a PostIt note to a prototype.” He also thanks the Dalhousie Industry Liaison Office for helping to bring the company to market. ABK's business adviser is Brian Lowe, Co-Founder and Director of First Angel Network.

“A technology with the potential to help nearly one-quarter of the people on earth over the age of 35 makes both a strong humanitarian and a strong business case,” said Bernard Valcourt, the federal minister responsible for Acoa, at the press conference.

Boyd said the company’s technology will have other applications. It is now focusing on treatment for uterine fibroids, and may apply it next to the treatment of liver cancer.