Worldwide License for Harvard Uni’s eRapid Technology
Sydney, Mar 7, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - iQX Limited (
NSX:IQX), on behalf of Antisoma Therapeutics Pty. Ltd., a medical technology company, and fully owned subsidiary of The iQ Group Global Ltd. (NSX:IQG) and iQX Limited, today announced it has received a worldwide license from Harvard's Office of Technology Development to commercialise diagnostic technology developed at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, with exclusivity in the fields of respiratory viral illnesses, cancer, and immune/allergic disease. The agreement with Harvard enables Antisoma to create a rapid point-of-care test platform for COVID-19 and multiple other disease biomarkers.
The Wyss Institute's eRapid technology will be Antisoma's lead diagnostic technology and will be used to create rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests by developing and commercializing a portfolio of eRapid diagnostic tests to detect an extensive range of biomarkers, including COVID-19 antibodies, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and histamine.
The eRapid is an affinity-based electrochemical sensing platform that can simultaneously detect a broad range of biomarkers with high sensitivity and selectivity in complex biological fluids. The eRapid technology was developed by Wyss Founding Director Dr. Donald Ingber and Wyss Senior Scientist, Dr. Pawan Jolly. Currently, eRapid can be used to detect IL6, insulin, glucagon, and COVID IgM and/or IgG antibodies, which indicates a person's immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
One of the main challenges with developing electrochemical biosensors to test for biomarkers is biofouling, a layer of off-target biomolecules in complex fluid, like blood or saliva, settling on biosensors, which can prevent them from working. The eRapid technology overcomes this problem by repelling biofouling agents and only attracting biomolecules specific to the test. This represents a new era for highly accurate electrochemical biosensors that can diagnose and monitor a wide range of medical conditions at the point-of-care.
Since 2020, The iQ Group Global has collaborated with the Wyss Institute to develop rapid point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests. A 2021 study demonstrated the accuracy of the SARS-CoV-2 antibody assay using clinical COVID-19 samples. Among the major findings, it was reported the tests were 100% sensitive, 100% specific, and capable of obtaining results in less than 10 minutes.
"This is a great time that we live in as we become part of the convergence of multiple technologies such as biosensors, 5G connectivity and nanotechnology. We are on the verge of making personalised medicine not only a reality, but accessible and affordable to everyone," CEO and Chairman of The iQ Group Global, Dr. George Syrmalis said.
"Our priority is to continue developing and commercializing the saliva quantitative COVID test, standardised against the World Health Organization (WHO) reference standard, which will allow patients and physicians to determine immunity based on antibody load and that will then determine if additional COVID vaccination booster shots are needed. This level of accuracy will rationalise repeat vaccination protocols, increase the efficiency of health care services while dramatically reducing costs to governments and the health care sector.
"Our first step will be clinical trials using human saliva at Johns Hopkins University with the objective of filing for Emergency Use Authorization with the FDA and all other major regulatory bodies around the world. Simultaneously we will be completing our product development activities in parallel to our transfer to manufacturing strategy, and we are already conversing with multinational conglomerates to facilitate a sublicensing deal.
"The eRapid diagnostic tests have been shown to successfully detect IL6, insulin, and glucagon, among other clinically relevant target molecules ranging in size from 100 Da to 150,000 Da. The sensors can also be reused multiple times. eRapid has multiplexing capability, meaning it can detect multiple different biological fluids, like saliva or blood, on the same test."
Harvard initially, in 2020, granted The iQ Group Global access to the eRapid technology on a non-exclusive basis, for a limited term, in accordance with the University's commitment to the COVID-19 Technology Access Framework. The Framework enables broad access to emerging technologies to incentivise rapid innovation in pursuit of solutions to combat the pandemic.
Wyss Senior Staff Scientist Dr. Pawan Jolly added, "Through different stages of the development and validation process, we have created eRapid-based biomarker panels as precision instruments for the diagnosis of for several disorders with a strong focus also on COVID-19 detection. We are confident that in the hands of Antisoma Therapeutics, our technology will be used to close important diagnostic gaps."
Antisoma Therapeutics' eRapid platform will join The iQ Group Global's growing portfolio which currently includes The Group's Organic Thin Film Transistor (OTFT) Saliva Glucose Biosensor, developed at the University of Newcastle to replace blood finger-prick testing, and OncoTEX Inc. the Group's Oncology platform.
About Antisoma Therapeutics Pty. Ltd.
Antisoma is a medical technology company focused on creating professional and layman use personalised medicine rapid point-ofcare diagnostic tests and diagnostic test panels, for cancers, allergies, and infectious diseases. Antisoma is developing and commercializing a portfolio of diagnostic tests and diagnostic test panels to detect an extensive range of biomarkers, including COVID-19 antibodies, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and histamine.
About IQX Limited
A member of The iQ Group Global, iQX Limited is an investment funds management company specialising in the bioscience sector that is committed to eradicating disease through capital investment.
