Diagnostics player receives Innovate UK grant for sample preparation system
Biological sample analysis and point-of-care diagnostic company SAW Diagnostics has been awarded a £1.5 million grant by Innovate UK for the company’s sample preparation system, for use in infectious disease detection and other applications.
This follows the recent completion of work under a £1 million award from the Biomedical Catalyst fund, directed towards development of the company’s detection technology for infectious disease diagnostics.
The Innovate UK programme will finance development of the Company’s integrated sample processing technology platform over the next two years. The platform is designed to enable molecular detection directly from a range of complex clinical sample types in a range of ‘near-patient’ and research settings.
SAW Diagnostics is built on unique acoustic-flow technology developed at the University of Glasgow’s School of Engineering. Samples of patients’ blood, swabs or urine are placed on a disposable chip. The interaction between the sound waves and the chip enables the release of DNA and its amplification, potentially enabling test results in as little as 15 minutes.
Dr Iain Miller, CEO of SAW Diagnostics said: “Automated extraction of nucleic acid from diverse complex sample types is a major bottleneck in clinical testing today, often requiring that samples are sent to remote laboratories for expert analysis.
“Our technology reduces the complexity and cost of the workflow, thereby truly enabling testing in diverse clinical settings that do not require laboratory expertise, such as doctors’ offices, in-pharmacy or other near-patient environments. This new award, together with equity financing which the company is currently raising, will help the company secure its foothold in the growing point-of-care sample preparation and diagnostic market, whilst also opening up other potential research applications.”
The new Innovate UK funding comes on the back of the updated antimicrobial resistance (AMR) strategy, outlining the UK Government’s plan to tackle AMR over the next five and 20 years – in which the development of, and access to, effective diagnostics were key objectives.
SAW Dx is targeting several markets for its initial product, which it plans to serve in collaboration with major corporate partners. These markets include sexual health screening, respiratory health management and hospital acquired infections. Point-of-care testing provides near-immediate results which allows the clinician to optimise treatment decisions while the patient is still in the clinic, rather than prescribing unnecessary antibiotics, which is often the case today.
Professor Jon Cooper, director and academic founder of SAW Diagnostics, added: “There is high competition for Innovate UK awards, and our successful bid underlines the potential seen in our innovation. Initial clinical tests of early prototypes of SAW Diagnostics with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde have already produced excellent results. We’re particularly encouraged to have invented a technology with the potential to transform infectious disease care, whilst contributing to enhanced antimicrobial stewardship. For example, we note that recent publications in the sexual health field suggest the potential for point-of-care testing to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions by an order of magnitude.”