Public Funding for Tissue Click Ltd

APTA-COVID aims to develop **a user-friendly kit** for the early and fast diagnosis of COVID (and its future mutants) infection. Computer modelling will enable the identification of a library of relatively small molecules (called aptamers) able to recognise different domains of the COVID-19 spikes. These molecules will be grafted on to magnetic nanoparticles to become **a powerful tool to capture, concentrate and detect small amounts of viruses in oral swabs/saliva samples**. This will be done by incubating the magnetic nanoparticles with the sample for only 15 min, attracting them with a magnet and after washing out the excess, incubate them for 15 min with free aptamers tagged with fluorescent molecules: each recognising a different virus spike domain. After a final wash, particles that fluoresce under illumination with an inexpensive UV torch will signal the presence of the virus. This kit will be much more cost-effective than the one currently available (£50 for 1000 samples). More individuals will be tested in a shorter time period thus enabling earlier detection of infection and geographical mapping of outbreaks enabling fast actions by clinicians and policymakers.

Cell-based analysis is a key technology in preclinical development of new drugs and healthcare products. By use of ethically-sourced human cells it is an attractive alternative to, and replacement for, animal testing. There is incentive to make cell-based analysis models as tissue-like as possible, making them 3-dimensional instead of conventional 2D cell cultures. This should confer analysis based on these models with high predictive value, but this increases the technical difficulty, and the time and resource needed to assemble the models. The project will test the feasibility of manufacturing cell-based analysis models by additive printing of both the cells and their supporting biological scaffolds into the multiwell culture dishes typically used in preclinical screening of candidate drugs. A successful demonstration of additive printing in this context will create opportunity to build new cost-effective, automatable manufacturing processes for cell-based systems. This innovation will have significant commercial value in a market sector worth >$2Bn world-wide; it will also increase end-user screening efficiency and, in so doing, reduce new drug development costs and shorten development time.