Clinical trial success for biotech company

MANCHESTER biotech company Epistem Holdings has reported the successful completion of an independent clinical trail of its Genedrive test – 100% effective in detecting inherited genetic polymorphisms in hepatitis patents.

The trial was conducted by teams from the Institut Pasteur and Hopital Cochin, Paris.

Genedrive produces results in 50 minutes from a simple cheek swab compared to the standard approach which uses a blood sample and which can have a service lab return time of two to three weeks for results.

Epistem chief executive David Budd said: “The result from this clinical trial is excellent external validation of our Genedrive device both as a robust diagnostic system and as a technology platform in the rapidly growing field of pharmacogenomics and follows on from our recently announced launch in India of our tuberculosis and antibiotic resistance test.

“As medicine becomes more personalised, there is an increasing need to detect genetic differences in patients.

“We have efficiently demonstrated Genedrive’s ability to undertake rapid genotyping in a simple manner. This performance study allows us to initiate opportunities for collaboration with pharmaceutical partners in developing companion diagnostic tests for drug development and patient stratification.”