Public Funding for Fluidic Analytics Limited

James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, described the role that proteins play in biological systems by stating that “DNA is the script and proteins are the actors.” From the behaviour of cells through activity of drugs to the onset of disease, proteins play a critical role in nearly every biological system. Despite this crucial role, the techniques currently available for analysing proteins have not changed for several decades; this technology lag has led to tools that are imprecise, time-consuming, costly or all three of the above. There is thus a pressing need for new analytical tools for protein characterisation. Fluidic Analytics is developing a line of products for characterising proteins. Based on a disruptive technology that exploits the physical properties of mixtures in laminar flow, these products constitute a fundamentally new way of characterising size, conformation, concentration and other properties of proteins. By offering combinations of sensitivity, reproducibility, throughput, ease of use and scalability that alternative technologies are fundamentally unable to offer, these products are seeking to play a key enabling role in fundamental science, drug discovery and disease diagnosis. This project will develop a working pre-production prototype of Fluidic Analytics' flagship product, the Flow Mk1. Flow Mk1 enables high-sensitivity measurement of concentration and size of proteins in their natural state to be made in seconds using small volume samples. This prototype will build on the outputs of a previous TSB SMART PoC project aimed at proving that the Flow Mk1’s design is compatible with commercial materials and manufacturing processes. In this DoP project, the design of the Mk1’s injection-moulded single-use unit will show functional and safety requirements when integrated with a preliminary bench-top reader. The design of the bench-top reader will then be refined to final pre-production prototype including an enhanced user-inte

James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, described the role that proteins play in biological systems by stating that “DNA is the script and proteins are the actors.” From the behaviour of cells through the activity of drugs to the onset of disease, proteins play a critical role in nearly every biological system. Despite this crucial role, the techniques currently available for analysing proteins have not changed for several decades; this technology lag has led to tools that are imprecise, time-consuming, costly or all three of the above. There is thus a pressing need for new analytical tools for protein characterisation. Fluidic Analytics is developing a line of products for characterising proteins. Based on a disruptive technology that exploits the physical properties of mixtures under laminar flow, these products constitute a fundamentally new way of characterising size, confirmation, concentration and other properties of proteins. By offering combinations of sensitivity, reproducibility, throughput, ease of use and scalability that alternative technologies are fundamentally unable to offer, these products are seeking to play a key enabling role in fundamental science, drug discovery and disease diagnosis. This project aims to establish commercial proof of concept for Fluidic Analytic’s flagship product, the Flow Mk1. The Flow Mk1 enables the high-sensitivity measurement of concentration and size of proteins in their natural state. A preliminary prototype already performs measurements in solution in a matter of seconds, without the need for pre-analysis concentration or other preparatory steps that may alter the state of proteins. SMART funding will enable this preliminary prototype to be translated into commercial proof of concept by evaluating its performance when combined with commercial materials and manufacturing processes. Successful completion of this project will lead to the subsequent production of a working prototype of the Flow Mk-1.