Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally with 15 million new cases diagnosed every year. Surgery is a cornerstone in the treatment, and is currently used in 45% of all cancer patients. Despite surgery, cancer recurs in approx. half of the patients. While surgery holds enormous potential, it is greatly underserved. FluoCure aims to develop and clinically test the FluoCure drug. It is composed of a peptide and a fluorophore bound together by a linker. The peptide binds to urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR), highly specific for tumors, and the fluorophore enables precise thermal ablation and visualization of cancer cells. FluoCure will disrupt cancer surgery with a cancer-targeted photothermal therapy—bringing cellular precision to surgery. The ambition is to test the FluoCure drug in a phase I/II trial in high-grade glioma patients. The patients will directly benefit from a lower recurrence rate and higher survival rate. The society will be able to offer advanced treatment and reduce recurrence-related costs. Following successful clinical translation, the FluoCure drug will be used for other indications. The potential is immense, as more than 80% of the solid cancers express uPAR. This ambitious venture will only be possible with a multidisciplinary team of experts in peptides (UCPH-CHEM), fluorophores (UCPH-FLUO), imaging & cancer models (UCPH-CMI), neurosurgery & clinical trials (RH-Neuro), and business development & regulatory affairs (FluoGuide).

Løbende målinger af fermenteringsprocesser med konventionel kontinuert bølgelængde Raman spektroskopi, er meget begrænset grundet en stærk fluorescerende baggrund. Vi foreslår et tidsbegrænset Raman instrument baseret på pulserende excitations lasere, som vil fjerne den fluorescerende baggrund fra Raman målingerne, og demonstrere brugen af denne teknologi til overvågning af fermentering.