Antelope Dx receives 2,2M euro grant from VLAIO to expand capabilities for its home testing device
ANTELOPE DX BV, a Belgium-based diagnostics company focusing on the development of a palm-sized diagnostic device for home testing, announces that it has received a project subsidy of 2,2M euro from VLAIO (Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship). While the company is currently developing a urine-based self-test for sexually transmitted diseases (STD) on its platform, this grant will support the expansion towards a platform that can handle swab and blood samples as well.
In addition to qualitative measurements, developments will be initiated to enable quantitative measurements of protein biomarkers in a finger prick blood sample. The developments that are supported with this grant enable the company to enlarge its test menu in the home testing market: from acute infection detection to disease monitoring using various sample types.
As a follow-on to the STD test, Antelope is developing a respiratory Flu A/B test via a nasal swab, with direct virus detection which enables worried individuals to test in their home setting.
“We feel that what has happened in 2020 with Corona is a landmark which has significantly changed the perception of diagnostics in general and home diagnostics/self-testing in particular. The need for additional decentralized testing capacity is now more apparent than ever. By allowing individuals to test in their home setting, they avoid the spread of respiratory viruses through fast detection and patient isolation. Antelope is one of the few diagnostic players that will bring a diagnostic device in the home setting. The value of developing a direct viral Flu A/B test for consumers at home is being understood and validated broadly. We plan to extend the Flu test to also detect Sars-CoV-2 with a single swab sample. This VLAIO grant validates our approach to take diagnostics in the personal home setting where both therapy monitoring and acute infectious diseases testing will be possible. Being backed by the government to help us execute this plan is of critical importance,” said Bart Van Meerbergen, Business developer and application manager of Antelope Dx.