NZ/UK collaboration for rapid point-of-care diagnostics

New Zealand biomarker research company BioTest Diagnostics is collaborating with UK diagnostics development company AgPlus to bring immediate point-of-care testing benefits to the veterinary market.

The companies say they are revolutionising point-of-care testing in animals through the delivery of quantitative diagnostic results in minutes, which will be done at the user’s side. AgPlus Diagnostics chief executive Keith Page notes that current methods take 24-48 h to generate a result from laboratory-based testing.

Keith Page with BioTest Diagnostics’ Richard Wood and Mike Seawright.

The collaboration has produced a point-of-care test for canine progesterone, expected to be validated by September 2013. BioTest executive chairman Richard Wood explained, “Success with progesterone will give us the confidence and credibility to investigate more complex diseases in both veterinary and medical fields.”

Through handheld AgPlus analytical technology, the powerful quantitative test will allow breeders and veterinary practitioners to monitor breeding cycles closely on site in order to increase the likelihood of successful fertilisation. Page said that with a “very narrow window of opportunity to get the optimal breeding point”, getting diagnostics right the first time, and reducing distress to the animal, is a big advantage.

The platform utilises electrochemical immunoassay technology in a patented microfluidic chip format. The signalling and measurement system allows extremely sensitive, accurate and quantifiable results to be obtained from a very small sample volume (50 µL) in 7 min, using a battery-powered, handheld reader. Due to the unit’s light weight and portability, numerous systems can be located wherever they are required, increasing the availability of quantitative results at the point of care.

BioTest was the first customer to recognise the potential of the handheld diagnostics platform, according to Page. The companies have been working on the development of the canine progesterone assay for about two years now.

Page recently met with vets in New Zealand to show them the technology, and he says, “The look on people’s faces was complete joy.” BioTest is also getting interest from veterinary groups in the UK and China, according to Wood.

BioTest has now contracted business partners Hopkirk Research Institute NZ, AgResearch NZ and Gribbles Veterinary in New Zealand and Australia and Callaghan Industrial Research. The company has also received an MSI Callaghan Innovation grant for research and development into progesterone testing.

Gribbles Veterinary’s group general manager, Kevin Darling, says the first stage of validation is demonstrating repeatability and accuracy. Once this is completed, vets will be given access to BioTest-branded AgPlus readers and chips so they can test the technology themselves.

Page said the new technology is “a complete paradigm change in how diagnostics are done”. In the future, he says, it could be expanded to test other animals like horses and cattle, as well as diagnose human diseases like TB.

“We’re really just starting to get at the base of the pyramid here,” he said. “It’s early stages yet.”