NEW YORK — Apis Assay Technologies said on Thursday that its subsidiary Clickmer Systems has been awarded a €1.1 million ($1.2 million) grant with German research institute Fraunhofer IMS to develop a diagnostic platform to address emerging pandemics.
The grant was awarded by Projektträger Jülich.
According to UK-based Apis, which was founded in early 2019 with support from Qiagen and Health Innovation Manchester, the platform will combine Clickmer's so-called Click synthetic antibody analogs with fluorescent optical nanosensors. When a pathogen binds to Click detection structures, the fluorescence of the nanosensors change, enabling measurement of the binding events, the company said.
"The platform will provide a more cost-efficient and time-saving solution, with a reduction in development costs through a more sustainable process compared to the commonly used ELISA assay systems, which require the usage of animal-derived antibodies," Apis Chief Operating Officer Ian Kavanagh said in a statement.
The collaboration, dubbed InfektoFlex, is set to begin this spring, Apis said.