Peninsula Resident Up to Something Good

If you could invest in something that could advance medical technology and ease suffering, would you? San Carlos resident Richard Hular is betting on it.

He's in the midst of developing, along with a crew of capable workers, a probe that would unobtrusively perform a biopsy without having to remove tissue.

For 12 years Hular has been in search of funding for the hand-held instrument that would cause no damage. His goal is $33 million, which could lead to easing the suffering of millions.

"My ex-wife developed breast cancer and I comforted her," Hular said. "The procedure was just terrible, sending a probe in to get some tissue for a biopsy. She went through three surgeries. Right away, in a light bulb moment, I began thinking of a hand held device. It was time to start my own company."

That was in 2000 and he's done nothing else since than to work on the project. With an engineering background, Hular set about to advance his cause.

"We have achieved a major breakthrough in cancer detection and treatment," Hular said. "The current fundraising environment for startup companies in Silicon Valley is at a historic low, because of the global economic issues. As a result of this situation, we have made a conscious decision to reach out to individuals and corporations that might be interested in sponsoring or investing in our significant effort."

Hular is the CEO of BioLuminate, which has successfully combined Computer and Telecommunications components, Lasers, Physics, unique Engineering & Software, and Biology, to solve a difficult problem in cancer detection and treatment. The company utilizes technology developed at NASA Ames, Lawrence Livermore, and the Los Alamos National Laboratories.

The potential benefits of this technology can effect 42 million women annually, for the breast cancer application, and 25 million men for the prostate cancer application. This technology can also be utilized for all other solid forms of cancer, and would ultimately save billions in annual health-care costs.

"Right now we are working diligently to raise $33 million for a Series C private financing," Hular said. "In addition, we would also like to raise a small amount of funding quickly, in order to maintain our limited operations and allow us to continue critical patent filing efforts in the US, Europe, and Canada, which are all time sensitive. Our primary patent just issued a few months ago in the US."

Dennis Matthews, Ph.D., the Director of the UC Davis Center for BioPhotonics Science and Technology, has endorsed Hular's attempts.

"We're in the hardest of all areas in which to make significant contributions, and that is developing technology to detect and treat cancer," Matthews wrote in '40 Years of Discovery, a publication of the Regents of the University of California.' "The development that may have the greatest effect is the sensitive detection of biomarkers, either genes or proteins, which would indicate a cancer or precancerous condition."

Other endorsements have come from Santosh Kesari, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Neuro-Oncology at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center, and the Translational Neuro-Oncology Laboratories, and Dr. Ernie Bodai M.D., F.A.C.S., Director of Breast Surgical Services, Kaiser Permanente-Capital Services Area.

For more information, visit the BioLuminate website.

Like South San Francisco Patch on Facebook | Sign up for the South San Francisco Patch daily newsletter | Blog for South San Francisco Patch