NEW YORK – South Korean diagnostics firm Bredis Healthcare said Tuesday that it has received a KRW 1.7 billion ($1.3 million) grant from South Korea’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups for the development of a test for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease.
The grant, to be awarded over three years through the government's Deep Tech TIPS program, will support Bredis' efforts to develop and commercialize a blood-based test for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease using its ultra-sensitive immunoassay platform.
KRW 1.5 billion of the funding is being directed to research and development, and KRW 200 million will support efforts to commercialize any test resulting from the grant.
According to the company, its technology can detect blood-based biomarkers at the femtogram level. Bredis aims to develop an in vitro diagnostic for measuring Alzheimer's markers including phosphorylated tau, neurofilament light chain, and glial fibrillary acidic protein.
"With this Deep Tech TIPS grant, we are positioned to secure regulatory approvals for our medical devices in time for commercial launch by 2025," Bredis CEO Hyundoo Hwang said in a statement.