Skip to contentSkip to navigation
TwitterLinkedInInstagram
  • Home
  • News
  • Events
  • Contact Us
  • Search this site

New funding for COVID-19 tests | ONE

Site Navigation

  • About ONE
    nav-arrow About ONE
    nav-arrow Transforming our Region Annual Event 2022
    nav-arrow Transformational Leadership and Action
    nav-arrow Who We Are
    nav-arrow Delivery and Impact
    nav-arrow Regional Economy
    nav-arrow ONE Enterprise Fund
  • Transformational Projects
    nav-arrow Transformational Projects
    nav-arrow BioHub
    nav-arrow SeedPod
    nav-arrow Seafood Transformation Project
    nav-arrow North East Adventure Tourism
    nav-arrow Gourmet Food Festival
  • Digital Tech
    nav-arrow Digital Tech
    nav-arrow Transformational Leadership and Action
    nav-arrow ONE Tech Hub
    nav-arrow Accelerate Growth
    nav-arrow Digital Catalyst
    nav-arrow Internationalisation and Market Development
    nav-arrow Strategic Partnerships
    nav-arrow EnergyTech
  • Energy
    nav-arrow Energy
    nav-arrow Energy
  • Food, Drink & Agriculture
    nav-arrow Food, Drink & Agriculture
    nav-arrow Transformational Leadership and Action
    nav-arrow SeedPod
    nav-arrow Accelerate Growth
    nav-arrow Transform Food Production
    nav-arrow Internationalisation and Market Development
    nav-arrow Strategic Partnerships
  • Life Sciences
    nav-arrow Life Sciences
    nav-arrow Transformational Leadership and Action
    nav-arrow BioHub
    nav-arrow Accelerate Growth
    nav-arrow Digital Catalyst
    nav-arrow Internationalisation and Market Development
    nav-arrow Strategic Partnerships
  • Tourism
    nav-arrow Tourism
    nav-arrow Transformational Leadership and Action
    nav-arrow VisitAberdeenshire
    nav-arrow Accelerate Growth
    nav-arrow Gourmet Food Festival
    nav-arrow North East Adventure Tourism
  • Home
  • News
  • Events
  • Contact Us
News
Life Sciences
Posted: 15 May 2020
Funding for development of 'pregnancy style' COVID-19 tests

The University of Aberdeen and Aberdeen-based biologics company Elasmogen Limited, in collaboration with other partners, are working to develop 'pregnancy style' tests for COVID-19 which could give a result within half an hour.

The project is part of the University’s portfolio of projects funded within a £5 million rapid response research scheme funded by the Scottish Government which aims to harness Scottish expertise to fight the virus.

The Aberdeen-led team brings in expertise from the University’s Scottish Biologics Facility (SBF) which works with academics and companies across the world developing antibodies, along with Elasmogen’s capability in developing biologics - biological medicines that are made using proteins or other substances produced by the body.

Other partners in the project, awarded a total of £223,676, include MRC, University of Dundee and the University of Minnesota.

Elasmogen’s current commercial focus uses humanised versions of antibody-like proteins found in sharks to develop drugs to treat cancer and tackle auto-immune diseases. The power of this drug discovery platform will now be refocussed on COVID-19.

Elasmogen CEO, Dr Caroline Barelle, who is also an honorary research fellow at the University of Aberdeen, said: “Current diagnostic testing for COVID-19 - so called RT-PCR for infectious agents – is accurate but complex to perform. It requires centralised laboratories, typically takes between four and 24 hours to complete and requires shipment of clinical samples from drive through and other collection centres. Point-of-care (PoC) or bedside tests are urgently needed to accelerate clinical decision-making and reduce the workload of test laboratories.”

Researchers will utilise drug discovery processes that have proved successful in cancer therapy to create next generation diagnostics which can be carried out at the point of care. Their ultimate goal is to deliver a pregnancy-like dip test which can deliver results from just a few drops of blood from a finger prick, within 30 minutes.

Elasmogen will re-position its biologics libraries, which contains over 100 billion different antibody-like soloMERs, from drug to diagnostic discovery. Elasmogen usually goes hunting in its drug library for molecules that recognise and neutralise cancer cells. It will now use this same approach to find soloMERs that recognise COVID-19 virus and in particular the external “spike” protein we have all become so familiar with.

The Aberdeen company has also developed improvements to natural monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) found in many traditional diagnostic test kits, by increasing the number of binding sites per molecule from the normal two to four. These so-called QUAD X formats increase diagnostic sensitivity by a factor of 10 and so could play an important role in the development of a dip-stick style test for COVID-19.

Professor Andy Porter, Director of the Scottish Biologics Facility at the University of Aberdeen said: “Elasmogen’s success in therapeutic drug discovery requires the exquisite recognition of a drug target to effect therapy. In this project we are using that same ability to specifically recognise a molecular target but instead of a cancer cell it is the spike proteins outside of the COVID-19 virus. Working with a range of partners we will then format not for injection of drugs but as a pregnancy type test for diagnosis of viral infection.

Dr Barelle added: “The Elasmogen team are delighted to be given the opportunity to deploy our soloMER technology platform to develop specific diagnostics against Covid-19 and are proud to be contributing to the global life sciences effort tackling this pandemic by working together with colleagues in Universities and other companies”.

Read more on the Elasmogen and University of Aberdeen websites.

ONE LS Elasmogen 500Aberdeen-based biologics company Elasmogen is collaborating with the University of Aberdeen and other partners to create new tests for COVID-19.
ONE LS Elasmogen 1600
Stay up to date
Sign up to hear about Opportunity North East’s latest sector events and regional news.
By signing up to receive our newsletter, you accept our Privacy policy and Terms and Conditions. We will never share any of your personal data, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Your privacy matters to us so if you want to find out more on how we keep your data safe, view our Privacy Notice or talk to ONE direct.

news
Grass management tech and tools webinar
Mar 07 2023
Industry projects driving diversification
Feb 28 2023
Entrepreneurship, innovation and high-growth
Feb 28 2023
twitterTweets by OpportunityNE_1
contact

Opportunity North East Ltd

11 Queens Gardens
Aberdeen
AB15 4YD

+44 (0)1224 061100

info@opportunitynortheast.com

  • About One
    Transforming our Region Annual Event 2022Transformational Leadership and ActionWho We AreDelivery and ImpactRegional EconomyONE Enterprise Fund
  • Transformational Projects
    BioHubSeedPodONE Tech HubSeafood Transformation ProjectNorth East Adventure TourismGourmet Food Festival
  • Digital Tech
    Transformational Leadership and ActionONE Tech HubAccelerate GrowthDigital CatalystInternationalisation and Market DevelopmentStrategic PartnershipsEnergyTech
  • Energy
    Energy
  • Food, Drink & Agriculture
    Transformational Leadership and ActionSeedPodAccelerate GrowthTransform Food ProductionInternationalisation and Market DevelopmentStrategic Partnerships
  • Life Sciences
    Transformational Leadership and ActionBioHubAccelerate GrowthDigital CatalystInternationalisation and Market DevelopmentStrategic Partnerships
  • Tourism
    Transformational Leadership and ActionVisitAberdeenshireAccelerate GrowthGourmet Food FestivalNorth East Adventure Tourism
ONE (en-GB)
Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions