NEW YORK – Dutch biotech company Scope Biosciences announced Wednesday that it has been awarded a €2.5 million ($2.73 million) transition grant from the European Innovation Council to further develop a rapid point-of-care molecular diagnostic system.
The new funding will accelerate the development of the firm's ScopeDx sample-to-answer isothermal molecular diagnostic platform. It follows a successful proof-of-concept collaboration with Wageningen University initiated two years ago and supported by the European Research Council, Scope Bio said in a statement.
The system uses CRISPR-Cas chemistries and claims a sensitivity on par with PCR and a specificity capable of detecting single nucleotide variations, according to the firm's website.
Scope Biosciences is a spinoff of Wageningen University's Laboratory of Microbiology. The company is currently developing its technology for both clinical diagnostic and agricultural use.
In 2021, Genome Diagnostics made a €1 million investment in Scope Bio, and the firms are now collaborating to develop human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing tests for use in transplant medicine, according to Scope Bio's website. Prototype CRISPRgo HLA assays listed on the GenDx website utilize type III CRISPR-Cas technology, specifically.