Manchester medtech firm to begin clinical trials with £1.4m investment

The North West company behind a medical device that detects life-threatening infections is about to start its first clinical trial after securing a £1.4m investment.

MicroBioSensor, a University of Manchester spin-out, was awarded the seven-figure equity finance boost by the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) and investor Catapult Ventures.

From its base at university’s innovation centre UMIC, the firm has developed a device the size of an iPad Mini that could help those with kidney failure undergoing peritoneal dialysis.

Dr Gordon Barker, CEO of MicroBioSensor, said: “2018 is going to be a very important year for our 11-strong team as we look to successfully run our first clinical trial which will last through to the second quarter of 2019.

“Essentially, this is all about detecting potentially life-threatening infections early, to improve treatment outcomes.”

According to Dr Barker, of the 50k to 60k Brits on renal replacement therapy, fewer than 10% are on peritoneal dialysis.

He continued: “One of the reasons for that is people are worried about infection in the peritoneal cavity around their gut, as it will kill you if it’s left untreated.

“Our device plugs into the equipment that dialysis patients use every day and detects emerging infections in this space, which potentially means keeping people on peritoneal dialysis for longer which is a good thing.”

Speaking further, Dr Barker said that if the trial goes well, MicroBioSensor will start selling its device for use in hospitals and clinics, potentially saving money for the NHS.

Eventually, the company is aiming to have the device used at home by patients.

He added: “As our technology is so simple that a non-specialist can use it with confidence. You are essentially looking at a window on the device for a colour change. If it’s a pale green everything is ok, if it goes to a dark purple colour, you know you have a problem. The idea is to flag that problem at a pre-symptomatic stage.”

The new £1.4m investment includes £700k in Northern Powerhouse cash announced in November.

MicroBioSensor has also received support through transitional funding and grants, including £983k from Innovate UK; £100k from investor Spark Impact; and £125k from UMIP, a division of the university’s intellectual property commercialisation agent UMI3 Ltd.