Akrotome Imaging

Akrotome Imaging is a private, pre-revenue biotech firm pioneering a novel intraoperative imaging platform designed to enable complete cancer resections. Its core technology, FIRE, employs quenched activity-based probes (qABPs) that activate specifically upon encountering cancer, dramatically reducing background fluorescence and aiming to give surgeons a clear delineation between tumor and healthy tissue during surgery. The company, founded in 2020 but building on technology developed by a team in place since 2012, is initially targeting breast cancer and non-melanoma skin cancer, with plans to expand to brain, lung, prostate, and colon cancers. Akrotome's flexible probe administration and targeted activation mechanism position it to address a significant unmet need in surgical oncology.

FIRE (Fluorescent Image Resection Enhancement) platform using quenched, activity-based probes (qABPs) that activate fluorescent signal only upon specific enzymatic interaction with cancer tissue.

Akrotome competes in the fluorescence-guided surgery market against companies with approved agents (e.g., Novadaq/Stryker, Photocure) and those developing targeted probes. Its primary differentiation is the qABP technology designed for high specificity, low background, and flexible administration, aiming to overcome limitations of current 'always-on' or less specific probes.