Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology offer
- POD Reference
- TOGB20241004021
- Term of Validity
- 4 October 2024 - 4 October 2025
- Company's Country
- United Kingdom
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
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General information
- Short Summary
- A UK company has developed a platform (early production units in Q1 2025) for fast development of new viral tests. Extraction-free, they are suitable for a rapid rollout allowing for much better preparedness for future pandemics. They seek partners who can help administer and participate in research cooperation projects to test and validate a series of tests.
- Full Description
-
A UK company has developed a novel platform (instrument and reagent) for direct and extraction free detection of viral pathogens for potential use in resource poor settings. It now seeks partners to test and validate it under research collaboration.
A key innovation is the ability to perform direct from sample molecular diagnostics without complicated microfluidics or cartridges used by competitors, simplifying the process, delivering portable testing and reducing assay costs. Facilitating rapid scale-up and in-field deployment in response to future pandemic outbreaks. COVID-19 showed that to break transmission chains it is necessary to rapidly deploy sensitive diagnostics at the site of potential outbreaks, without the inherent delays in sending samples to the lab. The company calls this approach ‘At Patient Testing ’, aiming to provide simple, low-cost molecular tests that can be deployed in any environment, without needing expert users, and with sufficient sensitivity to be used for prospective screening in future outbreak situations. This disruptive technology has 7 patents applied for (e.g. WO2016139443) and the company has completed a number of research and innovation projects centred on developing the technology (IUK/Horizon). Early production units will be released in Q1 2025.
Market need and opportunity: the platform is disruptive in this context for a number of reasons. It allows sensitive molecular diagnostics to be deployed in any environment without the need for lab facilities, cold-chain or expert users. During COVID the UK set up mobile labs that were essentially a full lab in a van staffed by molecular biologists, this platform would have simplified this. It also supports multiplexing or differential diagnostics, not supported by the isothermal methods that were developed. Most importantly it removes the need for any sample processing up front, with benefits in simplicity, time to detection and on reagent costs. Access to extraction kits and viral transport medium (VTM) was a major limitation during COVID and yet the platform can amplify directly from the crude sample itself. In the event of a new outbreak the company has an extensive in silico pipeline and believes it can deploy new assays at scale within 8 weeks.
The company is looking for industry or public sector collaborative partners in HORIZON, Innovative Health Initiative, other EU, US/BARDA and other similar grant funded routes to facilitate the release of validated products to the human diagnostics and veterinary markets. Access to their network of global partners for further testing would be an advantage, as would a background in the regulatory process to allow fast-tracking of the platform into the market. - Advantages and Innovations
-
The direct, extraction free detection method has been protected with several patents.
In addition to being quicker and cheaper, such tests will have significantly shorter development times for future outbreaks. - Stage of Development
- Available for demonstration
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
-
Type of partner sought: industry and public sector organisations.
Specific area of partner sought: research and hospital setting in virology.
Role of partner sought: Looking to participate in a team with access to specific expertise, samples and facilities for testing key, high pathogenicity targets in human and veterinary diagnostics e.g. Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers, FMDV, AIV, ASFV. ‘Pandemic Preparedness’ is the focus. Another desired capability is the administrative capacity to lead the project or actively contribute to formulation of the project. - Type and Size of Partner
- Big company
- R&D Institution
- SME 11-49
- SME 50 - 249
- University
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 06002007 - In vitro Testing, Trials
- Market keywords
- 05001001 - Diagnostic services
- 05001002 - In-vitro diagnostics
- Sector Groups Involved
- Health
- Targeted countries
- All countries