BATM Advanced Communications Ltd (LON:BVC) said it has invested additional funds into Ador Diagnostics to expedite the development of a new rolling circle amplification (RCA) rapid testing technology to diagnose bacterial, viral or fungal infections in under 30 minutes using DNA or RNA sampling.
The networking solutions and medical laboratory systems group said it has contributed US$3mln to Ador as part of a US$10mln investment alongside its partners, following which it will have a 36.7% stake in the firm.
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BATM said the RCA method will enable Ador’s NATlab molecular diagnostics solution to increase the speed of its test results, adding that the method “offers significant advantages” over the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) process, being faster and less prone to errors.
“As a result, the NATlab system will now be able to provide test results in a significantly shorter amount of time and with greater accuracy than first envisaged”, the company said, adding that the development timeframe for NATlab to be able to test for new pathogens is “up to 10 times shorter” than existing solutions.
The firm noted that Ardor is now in the advanced stages of incorporating RCA into the carbon array used in NATlab testing cartridges and it is working to complete the development of a full system based on this process, which is expected to be ready for in-hospital trials in the first half of 2021.
"We are very excited about this ground-breaking technology, developed in Ador, which will enable the accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases in less than 30 minutes. Alongside making great progress with our PCR-based NATlab system, despite the challenges of the pandemic, we are continually conducting research into new and advanced technologies of the future. We believe RCA can revolutionise the diagnosis of infectious diseases and we look forward to using this new funding to rapidly take this innovative technology to the next stage”, BATM chief executive Zvi Marom said in a statement.
"The way that we have been able to react quickly to advance this new technology, despite the [coronavirus] pandemic, is testament to the effort and investment BATM has made over the last nine years in developing novel technologies for rapid detection of infectious diseases. It is also the reason why there is great interest in our achievements so far", the CEO added.