Oral mucositis is a painful and debilitating condition linked to the side effects of chemotherapy and head and neck radiation.

It disrupts the mucosal lining of the mouth and throat, causing problems such as dry mouth, inflammation and ulceration.

In severe cases, patients cannot eat or drink normally and require hospitalisation with strong pain relief and tube feeding, sometimes for months, which can delay their cancer treatment.

Current treatments for oral mucositis include gels, topical ointments, analgesics, mouthwashes and low-level laser therapy, but they have mixed results. They do not work for all patient groups and in the case of laser therapy, practical challenges in delivering treatment have limited its use.

It was this combination of factors, coupled with their own experience of watching patients suffer with mucositis, that encouraged cancer surgeon Professor Aoife Lowery and consultant oncologist Michael McCarthy – both of whom are passionate about patient quality-of-life and survival rates – to link up with Professor Martin O’Halloran of the Translational Medical Device Lab at Galway University Hospital. They established the MucoCare project to tackle the problem.

“Clinicians and healthcare teams regularly see the devastating impact of mucositis on patients during cancer treatment and it was clear that this complication remains under-addressed despite its significant burden on patients and healthcare systems,” explains Dr Sahar Avazzadeh, who was recently appointed as MucoCare’s commercial lead.

MucoCare is based at the ARC Hub for HealthTech, led by the University of Galway in collaboration with six academic partners, including the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. The aim of this particular ARC Hub (there are others) is to accelerate the commercialisation of medtech and health research by bringing researchers, clinicians and commercial experts together.

The hub, which is under the auspices of Research Ireland, was established in 2025 with over €30 million in State and EU funding. It is supporting a range of healthcare innovations, including smart dressings for advanced wound care, sensor-enhanced advanced fall detection and an implantable drug-delivery device to improve the treatment of high blood pressure.

MucoCare is at a very early stage of development and some key decisions remain to be made. For example, will the solution focus on prevention or treatment? And will the final solution be a drug or a medical device? Both options are possible.

For now, however, the emphasis is on completing what’s adding up to well over 200 interviews with patients, nurses, consultants and other healthcare professionals to get a precise fix on what’s needed and how the treatment should work.

“It’s a slow but vital process because, depending on who you talk to, the need is different,” Avazzadeh says. “Patients have one perspective, but nurses and consultants have another, and the solution has to take all of these needs into account while ensuring that technically and operationally it will work.

“If it doesn’t work easily, it won’t get adopted. So, you have to identify the treatment gap, find the IP within it and then develop the solution and delivery method.”

MucoCare has been up and running since late last year with a team of four and funding of €200,000 to support clinical-need validation and early-solution development. From start to finish, it will take about five years to bring the treatment to completion between development, clinical trials and regulatory approval.

“Our primary customers will be healthcare providers and hospital systems that deliver cancer treatment,” Avazzadeh says. “Our initial focus is on patients undergoing stem-cell transplantation, where the incidence and severity of mucositis can be particularly high at between 80 and 90 per cent.” In the US, around 150,000 patients a year suffer severe complications from the condition.

“Over time, the technology could be expanded to support additional patient groups, such as those undergoing treatment for head and neck cancers,” she adds.

The Translational Medical Device Lab, which is headed by O’Halloran, focuses on developing medical devices that have a real impact on patients.

In the past, this lab has been involved with breakthrough treatments for hair loss and peripheral neuropathy experienced by patients undergoing cancer treatment.

These solutions were subsequently licensed to Luminate Medical. It is likely the MucoCare solution will follow the same pathway to commercialisation, although spinning out as an independent start-up is also a possibility.

Avazzadeh is a neuroscientist by background. She completed her PhD at the University of Galway and is no stranger to the process of translational R&D in the start-up world, having previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher with AtriAN Medical and then as principal scientist and subsequently operations lead with biotechnology company Relevium Medical, which is developing novel solutions for chronic pain.

“I am very committed to improving patient care and after my PhD, I started working with a start-up – AtriAN Medical, which spun out of the University of Galway in 2019 – and I really enjoyed it because in a small team you are involved with everything,” she says.

“When I moved to Relevium, it was in a completely different role and I was exposed to other aspects of the start-up process such as investor relations, regulation and manufacturing.

“Working in the translational field is a very positive experience because there is so much motivation to bring an idea to fruition. With MucoCare, I have the opportunity to drive the project from the beginning.

“On the operational side of things, I’d say that one of the most challenging aspects of the MucoCare project so far has been identifying and validating the most impactful market opportunity while ensuring that whatever solution we settle on aligns with both clinical needs and healthcare system realities.”