A BELFAST company founded just six months ago to sell right-to-use licences for pharmaceutical development and therapeutic applications has walked off with the overall winner's award - and a €100,000 cheque - at the final of InterTradeIreland's Seedcorn investor readiness competition in Dublin.
Phion Therapeutics was set up in May at Queen’s University by Professor Helen McCarthy and David Tabaczynski, mainly based on intellectual property developed at the School of Pharmacy.
It was crowned overall winner of Seedcorn, which this year attracted 275 entries in sectors ranging from medical devices, technology, fintech, design engineering, diagnostics and even digital ticket sales.
Phion is only the third outright winner from Northern Ireland in the 15 years of Seedcorn, following Catagen in 2012 and Sophia Search in 2009.
It now intends to launch a third, more tangible, product that is defined as a research use tool kit that allows access to its technology in a less expensive and smaller kit that allows each end user the ability to test the technology.
A spokesman for Phion said: “The technology we use has the ability to transform medicine. I think of it along the lines of AC vs DC electrical current war between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. Right now we don’t see a direct competitor that parallels history, but we have to plan for the emergence of a rival.”
Ken Nelson, chairman of InterTradeIreland, said: “It’s very rewarding to be in a position to promote the growth of new start companies across Ireland.
"Entrepreneurs and innovators are essential to the health of every economy and we are proud to support them as they turn ideas into action.
"This year’s competition also saw an unprecedented number of submissions from female entrepreneurs, with five women among the regional winners who went forward to the national final.
"I congratulate overall winner Phion Therapeutics and best new-start company Cerebreon Technologies from Donegal on their success and wish them all the best for the future.”
Seedcorn is aimed at new-start and early-stage companies which have a requirement for equity funding, and it has an overall cash prize fund of €280,000, with no equity stake. Since it started in 2003, the 2,775 companies which have gone through the competition have raised €230 million.
