Endomag

Medical devices for surgical guidance in breast cancer and more.

Endomag is a medical technology company rooted in the London Centre for Nanotechnology at UCL.

It began with a simple idea: use magnetics to remove the need for radioactive tracers in breast cancer staging. This led to the development of Magtrace®, magnetic tracer fluid, the Magseed® marker and the Sentimag® sensing platform. Together, they give surgeons a way to perform sentinel lymph node biopsies - a critical step in determining whether cancer has spread beyond the primary tumour.

By replacing radioactive isotopes, Magtrace offers a longer shelf life and can be administered well in advance of surgery. The result is a more flexible, accessible diagnostics for patients - particularly for those in rural areas, near hospitals without nuclear medicine facilities - helping more woman access accurate staging when they need it.

Today, there are growing applications for Endomag in prostate and lung cancer.

The company is headquartered in Cambridge, UK.

The Endomag journey so far:

2007: founded as a collaboration between UCL and the University of Houston
2024: Acquired by Hologic for $310 million
2025: Founder Professor Quentin Pankhurst receives a UCL Knowledge Exchange Award

Team

Professor Quentin Pankhurst

Founder

Professor of Physics and Director of Healthcare Biomagnetics Laboratory at UCL. In 2011, he set up the Institute of Biomedical Engineering based on translational research and experimental medicine.