Perth-based medtech firm OncoRes Medical has named a finalist for a Prix Galien Award, a WA first in an award widely regarded as the Nobel Prize equivalent for the life sciences sector.
Nominated in the Best Startup category, OncoRes Medical develops advanced intraoperative imaging technology designed to assist surgeons in identifying and removing cancer tissue with greater precision.
Founded on technology developed at the University of Western Australia, OncoRes is tackling a gap in breast cancer treatment.
Currently, nearly 30 per cent of women undergoing breast-conserving surgery require a traumatic second operation because microscopic cancer cells were unknowingly left behind.
OncoRes’s handheld quantitative micro-elastography system acts as a visual and tactile guide inside the operating theatre.
By combining light waves with micro-scale tissue stiffness mapping, the handheld probe allows surgeons to distinguish between healthy and cancerous tissue in real time, improving surgical precision and reducing repeat operations.
Led by chief executive Katharine Giles—a medical doctor and former venture capitalist who helped commercialise the UWA discovery—the Perth-headquartered business has built a 40-plus team spanning R&D, clinical trial management, and advanced manufacturing locally in WA.
The company stands alongside two fellow Australian finalists, digital mental health tool Gheorg and national health-tech commercialisation program ANDHealth+—the first Australian accelerator selected for the global awards—in a landmark year for the nation’s life sciences sector.
The recognition comes as industry leaders push for policy settings, including capital gains tax reform and the Research and Development Tax Incentive, that keep sovereign intellectual property and high-value tech manufacturing onshore.
ANDHealth founder and chief executive Bronwyn Le Grice said the nominations demonstrate that Australia can successfully commercialise its research when backed by targeted funding structures.
“A decade ago, Australia’s digital health sector was embryonic,” Ms Le Grice said.
“From that tiny seed, to be recognised on this global stage alongside the biggest names in medical innovation shows just how far both ANDHealth and our extraordinary innovators have come in less than 10 years.
“Ensuring our most promising innovative companies are adequately funded, supported and incentivised to keep them, their talent and their value here in Australia remains absolutely critical to our future economy and health outcomes.
“The changes being debated by policymakers will play a critical role in the future of digital health innovation in this country, but we need to also get the funding cycles right to help commercialise what we invent.”
The technology has already earned Breakthrough Device Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), making its Prix Galien nomination the latest milestone for a company proving that world-class medical hardware can be invented, scaled, and manufactured entirely out of Western Australia.
Beyond clinical outcomes, the economic returns of backing local health technology remain substantial.
Since receiving substantive Medical Research Future Fund support in 2021, ANDHealth+ alumni have raised over $211 million in follow-on capital, generated $97 million in revenue, and reached 4.7 million patients.
Every dollar invested in the program has returned nearly $20 in new capital while creating domestic jobs at 14 times the international benchmark, according to ANDHealth+ research.
