Genedrive PLC (LON:GDR) sad it has received a multi-partner grant award from the UK National Institute for Health Research’s Invention for Innovation programme for NHS point-of-care test.
The AIM-listed firm said the award is for the development and implementation of a point-of-care pharmacogenetic test to avoid antibiotic-related hearing loss in newborn children.
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The company said certain individuals develop irreversible hearing loss when exposed to antibiotic gentamicin. A Genedrive test is targeted to allow genetic results to be available within an hour, allowing alternative antibiotics to be used instead.
Genedrive said the project is expected to commence immediately, with an expected development phase of one year followed by a trial implementation phase in selected NHS hospitals in year two.
The company will then target the release of a Genedrive test within the NHS and more broadly.
Genedrive said it expects to account for its £550,000 share of the project funding as income which will be matched to costs incurred over the two-year project.
David Budd, chief executive officer of Genedrive PLC, said: "The application of Genedrive in an urgent healthcare setting is an excellent example of how a rapid, affordable, point-of-care test could impact patients' treatment and quality of life.”
“The NHS is a huge market place and, if adopted, this would be the first placement of Genedrive in a developed world healthcare setting. The project is an exciting opportunity to expand the markets in which Genedrive is used."