NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Genedrive has been awarded a £1.1 million ($1.5 million) grant from Innovate UK to further develop its molecular diagnostic assay system for tuberculosis and rifampin resistance.
The award will be used specifically to develop a bacterial sample prep module for the firm's Genedrive portable molecular diagnostic instrument that will concentrate patient sputum samples prior to testing on its disposable cartridge-based system, in order to increase test sensitivity.
"The Innovate UK funding is important in further developing the Genedrive mTB/RIF to meet the varied needs of the broad global markets to which we now have commercial channels," Genedrive CEO David Budd said in a statement. "We believe Genedrive can play an important role in supporting the management of TB by meeting key assay performance criteria at a price point that does not require the subsidies that exist in market today."
Formerly known as Epistem, Genedrive last year signed an exclusive distribution agreement for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa with Sysmex Europe for its hepatitis C kit and Genedrive platform, and also signed a separate agreement with Sysmex Asia Pacific.
The firm previously had an agreement with Becton Dickinson for distribution of a CE-marked TB test, and recently terminated a deal with Xcleris labs for distribution of its TB test in India due to commercialization challenges related to sample prep.