Winning at innovation — Phion Therapeutics is overall Invent 2017 winner

Phion Therapeutics, a company dedicated to commercialising a novel drug delivery platform based on cell penetrating peptides, is the overall winner of the Invent Awards 2017 — Northern Ireland’s innovation awards from Connect at Catalyst and sponsored by Bank of Ireland UK.

Dr Helen McCarthy, developer of Phion Therapeutics, was awarded the prize package of £13,000 and a space on the Northern Ireland Tech Mission to California, which will take place in January 2018. This year’s competition saw 144 entries across six categories, which was higher than last year’s number of entrants.

“Phion has been able to concentrate various anionic drugs into tumours while preventing delivery to normal or healthy tissue and cells. This is potentially revolutionary for the treatment of cancer,” said McCarthy from the School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast. “The list of potential applications is almost limitless. As Phion engages with more pharmaceutical companies, we expect to discover even more drug classes that could be applied to our technology.”

“Many of us dream about making a difference, of having an everlasting positive impact on people whilst making some money along the way. INVENT 2017 winner Helen’s innovation has the potential to do just that,” explained Gavin Kennedy, Bank of Ireland UK’s head of business banking NI. “Once again, the participants and winners showcased the high calibre talent and commercial potential of Northern Ireland’s ever growing, vibrant entrepreneurial community. Bank of Ireland UK is delighted and proud to continue to support them in their ambition to be the SME’s of the future.”

“The Invent Awards is the leading night of innovation in Northern Ireland,” added Steve Orr, director of Connect. “The competition is continuing to grow each year, proving that Northern Ireland is bursting with innovation. It has been incredible to feel the energy and enthusiasm in the room tonight.”

The other five category winners were KegoMatic (Agri Science), Evy (Electronics), Seatview (Consumer Internet), Uleska (Enterprise Software) and Hug (Engineering). These companies each received £2,500 and a place on the NI Tech Mission.