A vital part of cancer cell therapy is to ensure that cells fighting the cancer (called T-cells) don't lose their ability to fight cancer cells or infections, a dysfunctional state called T-cell exhaustion. T-cell exhaustion plays a crucial role in the failure of cancer cell therapy. However, current hospitals and pharma companies lack the means to measure T-cell exhaustion, highlighting the need for new tools that can aid in treatment decisions. Doctors need easy to use tools that enable them to monitor if a patient's immune system becomes dysfunctional due to T-cell exhaustion, as they could prescribe a class of drugs called ICI that reverse T-cell exhaustion. This significant improvement in clinical practice would facilitate the efficient identification of patients who may require changes in treatment plans before the therapy starts to fail. Furthermore, pharma companies need extensive tests to monitor the patients enrolled in clinical trials in order to select them for enrollment, stratify them into groups and monitor how they respond to treatment. Consequently, there is a need to have clinical tests that monitor if a patient's immune system becomes dysfunctional during CAR-T cell therapy. The project brings together the expertise and components required for a next-generation lab-on-chip technology. By incorporating unique proteins designed by a German startup on a biochip, the project aims to automatically analyse T-cell activity, enabling the development of a cutting-edge test for T-cell exhaustion. This application is presented by a company in the UK developing biochips that analyse blood automatically. They have an opportunity to work with a German company using AI to develop new proteins - their AI platform identified proteins capable of tagging exhausted T-cells. These proteins exhibit high accuracy in tagging cells, yielding results in just 15 minutes. The successful integration of these technologies presents a significant market opportunity, estimated at £5.17 billion by 2032\. The two companies wish to work together on an industrial research project to modify the biochip developed in the UK and enable the use of these new proteins designed in Germany for automated tests. The enclosed team is seeking Innovate UK investment to conduct a programme of biomedical engineering and software-based research needed to enable the team to prove the biochip can be automated for rapid tests in CAR-T cell therapy.

Patients with advanced cancers are often treated with chemotherapy which can reduce the effectiveness of the body's own immune system and leave patients exposed to infection. The manufacturers of chemotherapy drugs generally suggest using the same amount of drug for everybody who needs it, however, we know that because everyone is different, people end up with more or less of the drug circulating in their blood even after they have been given the same dose. A software program (a "Dosing Tool") has been developed by Physiomics to provide information to doctors on how certain chemotherapies will affect individual patients. The program may help doctors to make smarter decisions about exactly how much drug to give to different people and also how and when to use other expensive drugs that counteract the effect of chemotherapy on the immune system. In order to make the Dosing Tool work, doctors need to collect additional information through additional blood tests on how individuals respond to their chemotherapy. We will develop this dosing Tool by running a clinical trial where women with breast cancer will be monitored for the depletion of a type of white blood cells called neutropenia. For this trial, a nurse will travel to patient's home where needed to collect small volumes (a few microliters) of blood. As it can be inconvenient or even impossible for some patients to return to their cancer care centre to have these tests, Physiomics is working with another company, Beyond Blood, which is developing a miniaturised device for blood tests that will enable patients to obtain blood test results from small samples and which can be used by a patient in their own home. Using the information gathered from the study it is hoped that a combination of the Dosing Tool and Beyond Blood at-home test may eventually be approved for use across the UK and other countries and help ensure patients get the best possible outcomes when they are being treated with chemotherapy for breast cancer.

A vital part of cancer therapy is to ensure the exact type and progression of the cancer is known for every patient. Unfortunately, this is very challenging, as cancer is a highly complex disease that changes over time. The way the tumours grow is incredibly complex. Doctors are frequently unsure if a patient will get better when given a particular drug. Doctors need easy to use tools that enable them to know the exact "fingerprint" of the patient's type of cancer so that they can more precisely select which drug will be best for a particular patient. Furthermore, drug companies are developing advanced new drugs that can treat specific types of cancer more effectively, but they must be specifically matched to the exact type of cancer for the specific patient. Consequently, there is a need to have more quick and convenient ways of understanding a patient's exact cancer type. Thankfully, scientists have discovered that tumours release small quantities of "circulating cancer cells" floating into the patients' blood. If these small numbers of cells can be identified and counted, we would have the ability to conduct "liquid biopsies" on patients with a simple blood test. This application is presented by a company in the UK developing an innovative diagnostic machine that is capable of analysing blood by automatically counting the different types of cells in a patient's blood. They have an opportunity to work with a Canadian company with very special "fluorescent materials" that will make it possible to make the floating cancer cells of interest light up and be more visible and easier to profile cancer cells in the blood. The two companies wish to work together on research to modify the diagnostic machine in the UK and make the quantum dots attach to the cancer cells of interest. The team also wants to include a Canadian university with a highly sensitive camera that will improve the team's ability to count and identify rare floating cancer cells. The enclosed team is seeking Canada UK Commercialising Quantum Technology Programme investment to conduct a programme of engineering, biochemical, optical and software-based research needed to enable the team to prove the system can detect the target floating cancer cells in patient's blood samples.

This application is focused on providing chronically ill patients with a highly convenient and easy way to self monitor the number of white blood cells in their blood during their illness. White blood cells are a vital part of our immune systems and serve as the primary defence against infections in the body by destroying bacteria, bacterial fragments and viruses in the blood. Low levels of white blood cells in the blood, a condition called neutropenia, is a key indicator that the patient is unwell and a major part of managing conditions such as cancers. At present white blood cell counts are only possible if the patient visits a clinical facility so that a blood sample can be taken from the arm and then tested in formal laboratory facilities. All immunosuppressed patients need to have this test done frequently to enable them to manage their condition and treatment. Consequently, patients with long term conditions are having to disrupt their day, travel considerable distances, consuming the healthcare system's time in collection of samples and resources to perform these routine blood tests in laboratories. The applicants presenting this application, demonstrated it is possible to integrate new technologies into a simple hand held device that is intelligent enough to count their white blood cells when at home or any convenient location. The applicants have conducted scientific research on combining low-cost lasers and computer intelligence (artificial intelligence) such that a computer can automatically "watch and count" the amount of while blood cells in a patient's blood sample. This research has given the team confidence that the method works and can be the basis of a reliable blood count test. The team's goal now is to research and develop a handheld version of this cell counter, fluid handling system and software such that any user, regardless of their skill level, can obtain a white blood cell count in any setting. The project will focus on the engineering and design work needed to produce the miniaturised system. The team will then use this device to analyse a large collection of blood samples in order to train the algorithm to detect all types of blood cells. Ultimately the project will lead to testing and evaluation of the prototype miniature blood cell counter by a panel of patients and doctors (i.e. primary users of the device in the long term).