Oxford Brookes University-based spinout company, MetaGuideX, has secured £100,000 funding to further develop the company’s cancer detection technology.
MetaGuideX will use the Innovate UK Industry Impact grant to access specialist microscopes at the Central Laser Facility at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) on the Harwell Campus.
The company is led by Dr Ryan Pink, Reader in Molecular Biology and Genomics at Oxford Brookes University and a past Ambassador to Oxford Academic Health Partners.
“MetaGuideX looks at nanosized vesicles that release cancer into the blood particles. We can detect cancer vesicles in blood samples as small as half a millilitre and working with the Central Laser Facilities increases this sensitivity,” commented Dr Pink.
“The current tests show it works in multiple cancer types and could provide a cost effective and important test, a first in cancer care. 90 per cent of all cancer deaths could be prevented if you catch it before it spreads. It could be used particularly in high-risk patients for regular diagnostic tests.”
RAL’s specialist microscopes have a unique resolution that will enable the MetaGuideX team to see small particles the size of virus which are difficult to pick up with other microscopes. “We really start to see what’s going on at a molecular scale,” added Dr Pink.
The test being developed by MetaGuideX plans to pick up cancer long before a patient develops symptoms. This allows for early treatment success and a vastly improved chance of survival.
The £100,000 grant is awarded from InnovateUK’s Impact Fund Grant. The Impact Fund provides grants for scientific researchers to access Science and Facilities Research Council (STFC) world-class research facilities across the UK, including at Harwell in Oxfordshire.
The funding follows a £210,000 UKRI grant to MetaGuideX in 2021 for prototype development and to establish regulatory systems and protocols.
For more see the MetaGuideX website: metaguidex.com