‘World first’ brain cancer implant therapy nets £4.5 million investment
25 Jan 2026
Cheshire-based medtech business QV Bioelectronics has won £4.5 million in investment and grant funding to support its new technology for glioblastoma brain cancer.
The company describes its implantable Glioma Resection Advanced Cavity Electric Field therapy ‘GRACE’ device, developed by founders Dr Christopher Bullock and Dr Richard Fu, as a “world first”.
It employs electric field therapy to kill residual brain cancer cells following brain tumour surgery.
The commonest type of primary brain cancer in adults, glioblastoma (GBM), accounted for around 32% of all brain tumours diagnosed in England between 1995 and 2017, says Cancer Research UK.
Affecting around 2,200 UK adults annually, the aggressive disease has a 90% post-operative reccurrence rate within two years.
Just 3% of patients live for five years after diagnosis, with fewer than 1% surviving for 15 years. The average, according to the Brain Tumour Charity, is 12-18 months after diagnosis. Victims include the former Labour minister Dame Tessa Jowell, who died in 2018, one year after being diagnosed.
GRACE developers Bullock and Fu brought their experience as biomedical engineer and NHS neurosurgeon respectively to develop their implant technology.
Laboratory testing has enabled the Alderley Park-based firm to validate its approach and the new funding will allow continuation of its clinical trial work, with the first-in-human clinical study set for this year.
Said Bullock: "This investment allows us to take a major step … progressing into first-in-human studies and generating the vital evidence needed to bring a new treatment approach to the patients who need it most. We are incredibly grateful to our partners and investors for supporting this vision."
Investment funding was led by PXN Ventures via its GMC Life Sciences Fund, managed by the firm on behalf of limited partners Bruntwood SciTech, Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington and Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Further backing came from Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance fund, also managed by the company, plus investment from medical entrepreneurs Empirical Ventures and ‘angel’ investors.
Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Research and Innovate UK provided ‘non-dilutive’ or grant support for GRACE.
Co-founder and general partner at Empirical Ventures co-founder Dr Johnathan Matlock said that, by developing the world’s first implantable brain cancer therapy, QV provided a “clinically de-risked” technology.
“This funding will enable the company to generate first-in-human data, an inflection point that, combined with the significant unmet need in brain cancer treatment, presents a compelling opportunity,” he stated.
Pic: Maxim Berg
