NEW YORK – British molecular assay startup Biofidelity announced today that it has received a £500,000 ($610,851) grant from Innovate UK to further develop its chemistry platform for detecting gene targets.
As part of the funding, the Cambridge, UK-based firm will explore applications of its chemistry platform for oncology patient monitoring. The grant will co-fund a year-long project to validate the chemistry for sensitive detection of mutations used to guide treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer, including acquired mutations that confer resistance to common therapies.
Founded earlier this year, Biofidelity is developing a tool to detect low-frequency genetic mutations for blood-based companion diagnostic tests. The firm said that users can multiplex the assay's chemistry to allow simultaneous detection of large panels of DNA mutations at low frequencies.
"Our aim is to improve patient outcomes by providing easily adopted advanced molecular assays that dramatically increase the speed and effectiveness of diagnosis," Biofidelity CEO Barnaby Balmforth said in a statement. "Our platform chemistry could enable precision medicine across a broad range of therapies, with samples taken from either blood or tissue, meaning both routine screening and patient monitoring become far more cost effective and less intrusive."
With the Innovate UK grant, Biofidelity said it has now raised about £1.3 million in funding.