Avacta collaboration programme gets £3.8m grant

(ShareCast News) - A collaboration programme between AIM-listed Avacta and Leeds University has been awarded a £3.8m grant by the Medical Research Council.The biotherapeutics and research reagents developer said the grant was to develop novel, rapid diagnostic tools incorporating Affimer reagents, to differentiate between viral and bacterial infections, and differentiate bacterial strains.The programme will develop next generation biosensors to differentiate between bacterial and viral infections and determine which bacterial strain has caused the infection so the correct antibiotic can be administered quickly. This will reduce the number of wrongly-prescribed treatments and increase efficacy for patients, which will contribute to a reduction in anti-microbial resistance (AMR).Affimer technology is an engineered alternative to antibodies that can capture a target, such as a bacterial or viral protein, with a high degree of specificity.Chief executive Alastair Smith said: "I am delighted that the potential of Affimer reagents to improve rapid diagnostics has been recognised by the Medical Research Council through this substantial funding. The combination with the innovative microfluidic devices developed at Leeds University is very promising and could lead to a new class of rapid test device."There is a growing, global need for diagnostic tests that differentiate bacterial strains. Anti-microbial resistance is a huge issue for healthcare providers and one that is only going to get worse if the prescription of antibiotics is not targeted by accurate and rapid diagnostics. This programme fits perfectly with our near term commercial strategy to focus on developing Affimer reagents for rapid diagnostics."At 0940 BST, Avacta shares were up 12% to 110p.