Creo Medical is a small UK healthcare firm that has attracted attention from the biggest and best.

Intuitive Surgical makes da Vinci robots, which have revolutionised operations worldwide.

Valued on the New York market at $170billion (£130billion), the biotech company has also devised a way to detect tiny nodules in the lung via an ultra-slim tube inserted through a patient’s mouth. 

Conducted robotically, the procedure is swift and simple but it is designed to detect lumps, not remove them. In 2021, Intuitive approached Chepstow-based Creo for help.

Creo has invented surgical tools tiny enough to fit inside long and bendy endoscopic tubes. 

The kit is already in use for several early-stage bowel and stomach cancers so Intuitive reckoned Creo chief executive Craig Gulliford would be just the man to take its diagnostic technology further.

Early results suggest Intuitive was right. The first operation was successfully carried out in London’s Royal Brompton Hospital, several more have been completed since and the programme is on trial across the UK and Europe.

The procedure should be widely available within a couple of years, not just here but in America.

That could prove a medical game-changer, helping to diagnose and treat small, suspicious lumps in the lung before they spread. 

Success could also transform Creo’s fortunes, putting a rocket under the share price following years of disappointment.

Gulliford floated his business on AIM in 2016 at 76p. The shares soared to more than £2 in 2019 but today are just 28p, largely due to poor timing and lack of funds.

Having gained regulatory approval for his ground-breaking kit, Gulliford was at the point of rolling it out when Covid struck. 

A £30million fund-raising was completed in February last year at just 20p and the financing has put the business on track. Sales teams are working at full pelt and revenues are rising as Creo wins over doctors worldwide.

Brokers expect turnover to rise by around 30 per cent to £40million this year, climbing to nearly £55 million in 2025. The group remains loss-making but profits should come through from next year.

Creo is also changing the way gut-related cancers are treated, allowing doctors to remove tumours or lumps using endoscopic tubes rather than open surgery.

This market is thought to be worth more than £700million. The tie-up with Intuitive has similar potential and Creo has developed other tools as well.

MIDAS VERDICT: Creo shares have roller-coastered since listing but the outlook should be considerably brighter, especially following the tie-up with world renowned Intuitive. At 29p, the shares could prove to be a bargain.