US DoD awards another £2m for Epistem biohazard project

Epistem Holdings was gearing up for the next stage of its development programme with the US Department of Defense on Monday, having been awarded funding to proceed.

The AIM-traded company received $2.4m (£1.7m) for the first phase of the $7.8m programme in August last year, to develop and manufacture its Genedrive product into a biohazard identification system.

Epistem’s board said the second phase announced today consists of $2.9m in funding, and would progress the project towards a handheld Genedrive-based test for biohazards.

The funding was triggered by the successful progress to date, with the second phase of work to be largely undertaken in the 2016/17 financial year.

"Today's announcement is a recognition of our team's expertise in developing new assays and marks a further important validation of Genedrive's potential as a highly versatile molecular diagnostic system which can be used outside a central lab setting,” said Epistem CEO Daivd Budd.

“The US Department of Defense programme funding increases our overall development capability and our ability to develop Genedrive to realise its full potential,” he added.