Focus on patient-centric, home based, self-collection of biological
samples for testing to avoid hospital attendance
(5th July 2021) A Consortium led by Atturos Ltd, a UCD spin out company, founded by Prof Stephen Pennington, UCD School of Medicine and comprising Prof Peter Doran, UCD School of Medicine; Agilent Technologies Ireland Ltd (multinational measurement company) and Neoteryx Ltd has been awarded funding of €1.57 million as part of the overall Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF), announced by Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in April 2021. This funding will enable the Consortium to develop an innovative home plasma sampling device and incorporate this divide into a diagnostic workflow, which Atturos has titled the PERSONA© pathway. The project will focus initially on tests for inflammatory diseases, such as psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in reduced access to hospital phlebotomy departments for venous blood draws to support routine diagnostic tests and has had a significant impact on the delivery of healthcare to those with chronic diseases including psoriatic disease so hence this diagnostic pathway development.
PERSONA© will provide a new paradigm for existing and future blood-based diagnostic testing based on patient-centric sampling. Patient-centric sampling takes place at a patients’ home, in pharmacy or in local primary care settings and so avoids the inconvenience, time, costs and environmental impact associated with out-patient appointments and visits to hospital phlebotomy.
Speaking about the PERSONA© product potential, Prof Stephen Pennington, Chief Scientific Officer at Atturos, a UCD spin-out company already at the leading edge of developing new protein diagnostic tests and PERSONA© Project Lead, said ‘Our Consortium has embarked upon detailed prototype development and future commercialisation planning. Our focus will be on consolidating the growth of Atturos and further embed Agilent’s R&D activities in Ireland, creating new commercial and employment opportunities and so benefit the Irish economy. PERSONA© will also present the potential for a robust workflow paradigm for the development of other patient-centric diagnostic testing.’
Also speaking about the PERSONA© development project, Prof Peter Doran, Associate Dean for Research, Innovation & Impact, UDC School of Medicine said ‘The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly accelerated the development of areas such as telehealth, remote monitoring and artificial intelligence. In the post pandemic era, virtual consultations with doctors and other healthcare professionals will continue and this will lead to an increased demand for blood-based diagnostic test data obtained in ways that do not require hospital visits. Indeed this approach is likely to be an enabler of real world clinical trials, where late stage evidence and continued safety data will be generated in the community setting.
“We are delighted to bring together world-leading teams with complimentary expertise, experience and knowledge to develop this disruptive solution. The programme of work will also be carried out in close collaboration with an internationally renowned physicians in inflammatory diseases and the Patient-Centric Sampling Interest Group who will provide input into the patient, physician and pharmaceutical industry acceptability of the patient-centric plasma sampling device and PERSONA© workflow” continued Prof Pennington.
For further information please see https://www.atturos.com/