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Scotland's Microplate Dx Secures £2.5M Seed Funding

NEW YORK – Glasgow-based diagnostics developer Microplate Dx announced on Monday that it has closed a £2.5 million ($3.1 million) seed funding round, which it will use to further develop and commercialize a one-hour point-of-care diagnostic platform for antibiotic susceptibility testing.

Microplate Dx is a spinout of Scotland's University of Strathclyde. The firm's technology combines novel hardware and proprietary data processing algorithms to rapidly perform AST, according to a statement.

Microplate Dx intends to initially develop assays for urinary tract infections. The new funding will allow the firm to continue clinical trials in the coming two years, with plans for a European commercial launch in pharmacies as well as the exploration of US market entry.

"Early clinical benchmark testing relating to urinary tract infections has been positive and the company now intends to target scale-up both commercially and technically," said Microplate Dx's CEO Stuart Hannah. "Early prescribing of appropriate antibiotics to patients, so-called 'personalized prescribing,' is vital to combat antimicrobial resistance on a global scale, and for serious infections, early intervention will save countless lives," Hannah added.

Future test cartridges will be developed to support the treatment of other drug-resistant infections, depending on market needs and opportunities, the firm said. These may include respiratory tract infections, sepsis, meningitis, and fungal infections.

Investors in the funding round included Deepbridge Capital, the University of Strathclyde, Scottish Enterprise, SIS Ventures, and Thairm Bio.