In this project, we will be working with experts at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Newton Gateway to Mathematics, Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) to investigate the source and mechanism of interference of known contaminants within commercially available reagents. The project will utilise a combination of state of the art spectroscopy and microscopy techniques along with advanced computational models.

Over 250 million antibiotic prescriptions are issued annually; nearly half are done blindly. Incorrect prescriptions lead to drug resistant infections, which kill 1.2 million people annually and will kill more people than cancer by 2050\. FluoretiQ's mission is to provide clinicians with rapid tests to make their first antibiotic prescription, the right prescription. Our rapid testing platforms (NANOPLEX & SCFI) reduce diagnosis and antibiotic selection turnaround time from days to minutes, making the first prescription, the right prescription. NANOPLEX is an advanced latex agglutination test that uses glycan probes and machine learning to identify and quantify bacteria in 15 mins rather than 2 days, with over 90% accuracy. The first of our products is (codenamed) P5; a 15-minute diagnostic test from the NANOPLEX family. P5 addresses the unmet need for accurate point of care testing of urinary tract infections (UTIs) that affects 150 million people globally each year. P5 will provide a clear treat/do not treat evidence from the first consultation. P5 identifies the most important uropathogens. For this project, FluoretiQ will collaborate with experts from the National Physics Laboratory (NPL) and Newton Gateway to Mathematics (Newton) to create a mathematical model of the NANOPLEX assay which will help identify additional control parameters for maintaining performance of the test.

Brain tumours reduce the life expectancy for an average patient by 20 years. In the UK in 2013: 38 % of brain tumour patients visited their GP 5 times or more, typically over 15 weeks, before diagnosis because symptoms such as headache are non-specific. Although headaches are strongly associated with brain cancer, the chance of a patient with headache having brain cancer is very low, meaning that many worried well patients undergo negative MRI/CT scans to exclude diagnosis. Less than 1% of patients who have a CT/MRI scan actually require intervention/neurorehabilitation. In the UK, a patient develops a brain tumour every hour \[1\], it is therefore important to develop tools to enable earlier detection of brain cancer and ensure the right patients get access to the costly CT/MRI infrastructure. Our goal is to develop a simple blood test for quantifying serum levels of GFAP at the GP-level to aid decision-making and early diagnosis. This would revolutionise care by speeding up diagnosis, reducing costs and anxiety of unnecessary scans and reducing the number of patients presenting with inoperable large brain tumours.

This project aims to deliver a fast and accurate disposable test for diagnosing bacterial infections. The aim will be achieved through secondment of Dr. Pugh, Senior Research Associate and microfluidics expert at University of Bristol to medtech start-up FluoretiQ. Dr. Pugh will gain key assay development and commercial decision making skills which will enhance his career and benefit University of Bristol in delivering commercially relevant teaching and research.

According to a recent survey of 532 veterinary surgeries by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, 99% had noticeable reductions in weekly turnover, with 66% reporting reductions of 51% or more, as a result of social distancing measures implemented during the covid-19 pandemic. 451 of the 532 veterinary surgeries also reported that they had now moved to remote consultations which included new and repeat prescribing. 2-day laboratory testing has been the main stay for diagnosis of bacterial infections for nearly a century and is inherently sub-optimal for remote consultations. Our motivation is to challenge this distinct lack of innovation in this market and address the growing frustration amongst modern veterinarian with a simple, all-in-one solution to urine testing in animals. In this project, we will be working closely with veterinary market leaders Anvajo GmBH, to deliver a rapid bacterial identification platform on Anvajo's pre-existing fluidlab R-300 device. This would maintain the same quality of results expected from a full laboratory analysis at a fraction of time, cost and inconvenience of the gold standard.

This project aims to address the need for rapid tools for detecting bacteria in patient samples. FluoretiQ Limited and the University of Bristol, will develop a new quantum-optics enhanced bacteria diagnostic solution which utilises novel, non-toxic labelling technology to detect bacteria directly, at the point of care. Unlike currently proposed alternatives to bacterial culturing methods, this solution will trace the source of the infection and thereby, discourage the use of broad spectrum anti-biotics.