ChroMedX Collaboration with Biointerface Institute Receives OCE Grant for HemoPalm Biosensor Development
ACCESS Newswire
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / December 2, 2016 / ChroMedX Corp. (CSE:CHX) (MNLIF) (FSE:EIY2) (the "Company"), developer of the HemoPalm Handheld Blood Analyzer System, is pleased to announce that it's collaboration with Dr. Leyla Soleymani and the Biointerface Institute of McMaster University has received a Voucher for Innovation and Productivity I (VIP I) grant from Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) for continued HemoPalm biosensor development.
The VIP I program helps eligible companies develop, implement and commercialize technical innovations by supporting partnerships between Ontario's industry and publicly funded post-secondary institutions. Projects funded through VIP I enable the development of new products and/or processes, facilitate productivity improvements, and help generate new revenues and high-value jobs for Ontario.
"We are very pleased with the continued support of our development with Dr. Soleymani. It enables us to work closely with Ontario's world-class academic institution to solve R & D challenges. Our close working relationship with Dr. Soleymani's team has enabled us to make significant headway on our development and continues to produce positive results. It has been a pleasure working with her team and we are excited to continue our collaboration to benefit the development of Canadian medical technology." said Ash Kaushal, President & CEO, ChroMedX Corp.
Dr. Soleyemani and ChroMedX have previously worked together through an NSERC ENGAGE grant. The positive experience of the two teams through this collaboration in terms of expertise and infrastructure has motivated the proposed industry/academic collaboration.
"Biosensor development is an exciting opportunity for us, I am pleased with the continued work on this project and with the ChroMedX team on their novel HemoPalm Point-of-care system" said Dr. Soleymani, Assistant Professor, Biointerfaces Institute (BI), McMaster University
Dr. Soleymani's group will focus on addressing the company's specific challenges in (1) developing ion-selective formulations that can be generated via contact or non-contact printing; (2) integrating ion-selective membranes with miniaturized microfabricated electrodes; and (3) validating and optimizing the ion-selective electrode arrays for addressing the design requirements - sensitivity, selectivity, dynamic range, response time - of the blood analyzer. Dr. Soleymani's CFI/MRI-funded laboratory (Center for Cellular and Molecular Sensing) is equipped with all the necessary pieces of equipment for electrochemical sensor testing and validation. Biointerfaces Institute provides the technical expertise and infrastructure for developing application specific biosensing prototypes. The vast array of contact and non-contact printers coupled with high-throughput screening systems available at the BI are ideally suited for designing, fabricating, and optimizing the ion-selective membranes that are central to the HemoPalm blood analyzer.
OCE is funded by the Government of Ontario to foster training and development of the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs and is a key partner with Ontario's industry, universities, colleges, research hospitals, investors and governments. Their mission is to accelerate innovation through game-changing research leading to successful commercialization and vibrant collaboration between industry and academia, launching the next generation of products and jobs.
Dr. Leyla Soleymani is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Engineering Physics and the School of Biomedical Engineering at McMaster. She is currently the Canada Research Chair in Miniaturized Biomedical Devices and has extensive expertise in the study, design, and development of electrochemical biosensors and their technology translation. Dr. Soleymani has developed materials engineering strategies for enhancing the performance metrics of biosensors and have been involved in developing biosensors for infectious diseases and cancer.
The HemoPalm Handheld Blood Analyzer System is the only handheld blood analysis technology which combines Blood Gases & Electrolytes with full CO-oximetry. Currently this combination is not available on any of the handheld analyzers on the market. Existing technologies require users to purchase a second device to carry out the CO-oximetry. The Company's technology has the advantage of being able to offer a single handheld blood analyzer that provides all the required tests for Blood Gases & Electrolytes, with full CO-oximetry and bilirubin. Another competitive advantage of the HemoPalm system will be its ability to draw capillary blood directly from a pin-prick site into the cartridge, providing an alternative to arterial blood. Drawing arterial blood is painful and can cause nerve damage. CO-oximetry is the measurement of five different hemoglobin species in blood.
The global market for Blood Gases & Electrolytes was estimated to be 1.5 Billion $US in 2015 and is projected to reach over 1.8 Billion by 2020.
About ChroMedX Corp.
ChroMedX Corp. is a medical technology company focused on the development of novel medical devices for in vitro diagnostics and point-of-care testing. The devices are protected by the Company's issued and pending patents, dealing with blood collection, analysis and plasma/serum processing.
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