Multi-million-pound investment in an Aberdeen University spin-out company is set to allow the Scottish technology, previously used to create COVID tests, to be adapted for more diseases.

The North East researchers who devised the ‘ground-breaking’ technology for COVID tests at the height of the pandemic are collaborating with US biotech, Innova Medical Group (IMG) to expand the technology.

Vertebrate Antibodies Ltd (VAL), the Aberdeen University spin-out has secured over £2.3m investment from IMG – which specialises in rapid screening and diagnostics – to form a holding company called EpitogenX.

The Aberdeen team now wants to repurpose their antibody tests for a range of conditions, including Lyme disease and diabetes, and work alongside the NHS in Scotland to prove their effectiveness in real world settings.

Dr Abdo Alnabulsi, Co-Founder and CEO of VAL, told healthandcare.scot:

“Support from the Scottish government and NHS Scotland is very important for quick roll out of potential tests. We will be working with NHS Scotland for external validation of our tests before any commercialization. The Scottish government can provide logistic and financial support to validate the test and adapt into the health system.”

Researchers at VAL previously used their EpitoPredikt^TM and EpitoGen® technologies to develop COVID tests as part of the government’s Chief Scientist Office Rapid Response in COVID-19 (RARC-19) programme.

Now, EpitogenX will focus on developing these for a wider reach and distribution across the health and life sciences industries.

Dr Alnabulsi explains that this has the potential to offer more affordable options to the NHS and beyond:

“Our core technologies are poised to transform the diagnostic, vaccine, and therapeutic fields. Our platforms provide superior products and services compared to current alternatives, with unmatched accuracy, flexibility, and adaptability, all while remaining affordable and cost-effective.

“This ensures that the benefits of our technologies are available to the NHS, low- and middle-income countries, and even the less-funded veterinary sector.”

Of the two systems, the AI-driven EpitoPredikt^TM was designed to identify specific elements of the COVID virus, ‘hot spots’ that would trigger the body’s immune response. Researchers are now adjusting this to identify similar elements specific to other conditions or diseases.

The EpitoGen® technology works as a biological platform or scaffold to combine and display these molecular elements as they appear naturally in the specific pathogen or virus.

Through these two systems, the approach developed enhances the test’s overall performance by improving its sensitivity. The team says the appraoch is flexible, meaning it can incorporate new strains or variants into the test.

With the US funding boost, the immediate objective of the new company is to develop lab-based and point-of-care diagnostic tests for Lyme disease and diabetes, both notoriously difficult to diagnose early. Dr Alnabulsi adds:

"From the start, we set out to revolutionise the research and clinical sectors with innovative technologies. We're thrilled to have found a partner in IMG who shares our vision and values and is equally committed to developing transformative products."

Dr Alnabulsi told healthandcare.scot that the Lyme disease project has already started and an initial test should be available for external validation within six months.

He added that the diabetes work, which aims to detect Type 1 diabetes at an early stage to improve management, has “not officially started” but initial work including bioinformatics analysis has begun.

The new tests aim to be cheaper and more accurate than those currently available and Professor Mirela Delibegovic from the University of Aberdeen said the technology’s potential is “boundless”:

“This investment into VAL is testament to the innovative and pioneering technology that has come out of the team. The potential for this technology is boundless and I look forward to seeing it used clinically in the future.”

Professor Delibegovic, Dean of Industrial Engagement in Research and Knowledge Transfer and Professor in Diabetes Physiology and Signalling in Aberdeen, worked alongside VAL on the COVID test.

Aberdeen University says the applications of this technology are ‘vast’, including lab-based diagnostics, immunogenicity profiling, antibody production and vaccine screening.

Many vaccines operate to produce the same response a disease or virus would trigger without harming the body, by stimulating particular antibodies to be produced. Immunogenicity profiling works to develop the specific type of immune response that a disease, virus or vaccine will induce and how long it will last – informing vaccine development and clinical treatment decisions.

Professor Delibegovic told healthandcare.scot that a funding bid has been submitted to support the diabetes project, allowing the team to develop potential prognostic and diagnostic tests for subtypes of Type 1 diabetes. She added:

“This builds on our in-house developed technology which allows us to develop a single test that combines several of the antibodies detected in diabetes.”

The team says their long-term vision for the project is to develop a ‘portfolio’ of diagnostics to detect autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases.

Read more: Scots women at the forefront of medical sciences; Pre-eclampsia test approved for NHS Scotland; Realistic medicine to help the climate; New treatment for rare genetic condition approved; Redefining clinical meaningfulness

Sign up to our bulletin for key health & social care updates straight to your inbox and you can follow healthandcare.scot on Google News.