Rns -Grant by Irish Gov4 Nov 2021 07:05
DeepVerge PLC
("DeepVerge" or "Company")
Government of Ireland supports DeepVerge Centre of Excellence with €750k grant in a €1.8m project to accelerate mass production of a range of Microtox®PD instruments
Collaborations with Aptamer Group and Microsaic Systems target multiple infectious diseases and contaminants of emerging concern as part of project extension
DeepVerge (LSE:DVRG.L), announces that the Irish Government, through its state investment agency Enterprise Ireland[i], has awarded the Company a grant of €0.75 million (£0.63m) subject to contract, as part funding of a €1.8m project to accelerate design, assembly and mass production of a range of infectious disease and pathogen detection instruments, creating new instruments (as opposed to retrofits) capable of being mass produced in different sizes.
DeepVerge has been gearing up in Cork in 2021 to meet existing demand by retrofitting its optofluidic technology to established Modern Water equipment. This government supported development programme is a key part of the acceleration process to move quickly to mass producible instruments for automated monitoring of COVID19 and other pathogens in wastewater treatment plants as well as smaller units for hospitals, schools, offices and buildings.
As part of the R&D expansion, the diagnostic division of the Company in York, UK, has formed a deeper collaboration relationship with the Aptamer Group, York, UK for the development of a range of Optimers[ii] to bind other viruses beyond SARS-CoV-2 that include, but are not limited to, PMMoV[iii], Influenza A[iv], Influenza B[v], and Polio[vi] in wastewater, and E.coli[vii] in drinking water.
In addition, Modern Water will demonstrate Forever Chemical detection and identification in real-time with integrated Microsaic Systems plc miniaturised mass-spectrometry units.
These are being installed in York and Cork and are being added to existing field trials with DeepVerge's partners and customers in the US, UK, China and India to illustrate the technology's capability to monitor and detect pollutants doing untold damage to human and environmental health. Forever Chemicals are becoming increasingly subject to the new wave of worldwide regulation with the US and EU already putting steps in place to limit damage from these man-made chemicals.