NEW YORK (360Dx) – A number of diagnostics-focused projects were among the recipients of £26 million ($33 million) in startup and scaling funding recently awarded in the United Kingdom.
A total of 66 projects were awarded the funding as part of Biomedical Catalyst 2016 by the Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council, and Scottish Enterprise, the UK Bioindustry Association said in a statement.
Among those who received early-stage funding was Invitron which received £443,550 to develop a point-of-care test using high-sensitivity chemiluminescent compounds "that enable low-cost, portable POC de vices to achieve the analytical sensitivity of laboratory analyzers."
Also, Saw Dx and the University of Glasgow received £764,857 to develop a POC test for sexually transmitted infections.
In the feasibility studies category, the winners included Ludger, which will use £105,259 to develop a test to identify patients with HNF1A-type maturity onset diabetes of young people. Meanwhile, IF Sensing plans to use a £97,000 award to develop a biosensor to screen and monitor kidney function in patients outside the hospital environment.
The full list of winners can be found here and here.
The new Biomedical Catalyst 2017 Round 1 has also begun and is seeking applications.