Linear Diagnostics Raises £300K in Funding

Linear Diagnostics, a Birmingham, UK-based rapid diagnostic platform technology platform, rasied £300k in funding.

The investment of Rainbow Seed Fund was match-funded with an award from the University of Birmingham’s Spinout Investment fund.

The company intends to use the funds to develop its platform technology into a handheld device that can detect the presence of bacterial infection and simultaneously identify the risk of resistance to the most commonly prescribed antibiotics, without the need for laboratory facilities.

Co-founded by Tim Dafforn and Dr Matt Hicks, Abingdon Health Ltd, and the University of Birmingham, Linear has developed technology based on a novel application of a technique called linear dichroism, which uses polarized light to measure the alignment of detector molecules. Linear dichroism can identify several different target types (bacteria, proteins, genes) in the same test, and provide a quantitative reading for each, from the same test sample.
The first application to be developed will be a device for the detection of Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) to be used in both primary and secondary care where it will help restrict inappropriate prescriptions and contribute to the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Although the technology will initially be developed for the medical sector, it can be used to address markets in the agri-food, veterinary and defence settings.
The company is based at the BioHub Birmingham®, a purpose-built incubator facility in the Edgbaston Medical Quarter.

FinSMEs

24/05/2017

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