Largest Ever University KTP to Improve Patient Outcomes of Chronic Disease
The University of Bath has been awarded its largest ever single Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) in association with Quotient Diagnostics Ltd, global manufacturer and supplier of technology for near-patient monitoring of diabetes progression.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate there to be 364 million diabetics worldwide, and for diabetes related deaths to double between now and 2030.
The technology developed and supplied by Quotient Diagnostics measures glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), formed by the combination of glucose and haemoglobin in the bloodstream and an indication of the long term glycaemic status of diabetic patients.
The knowledge to be exploited from the University of Bath, under the academic supervision of Professor Tony James and Dr Steven Bull in the Department of Chemistry, will aid Quotient Diagnostics in developing ever greater specificity and sensitivity in monitoring diabetes to meet tightened acceptance criteria from regulatory bodies including, the National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program (NGSP).
This award will not only help Quotient Diagnostics address one of the most rapidly developing medical problems but will also help the company achieve its aim of becoming market leader in the field of diabetes diagnostics and monitoring by supplying accurate, reliable technology to GPs clinics, health centres and small clinics in addition to back up instrumentation for hospital central laboratories.
Clive Bailey, KTP Manager says: “Our KTP with Quotient Diagnostics is the largest value single KTP yet to be awarded to the University of Bath. This is not only a huge success for the University but will most importantly lead to improved patient monitoring and thus outcomes for suffers of this chronic disease”.
In addition, the glycation of proteins other than haemoglobin are presently poorly understood, despite glycation being a very important process associated with many AGE (Advanced Glycation End products) related conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. This KTP award therefore has the potential to lead onto continued work with Quotient Diagnostics to develop new technology platforms for chronic disease diagnosis and monitoring. The KTP Associate will be employed to work on developing new, as well improving existing, products.
Academic Supervisors Professor Tony James and Dr Steve Bull say: “We are looking forward to working with Quotient Diagnostics in what is an exciting and very important area of diabetes monitoring. We are confident that this joint research project will have great impact and result in better patient outcomes, made possible by better monitoring and improved management of chronic disease states. This KTP is a challenging and multi-faceted project which we believe will be the start of a much longer term relationship between the University and Quotinet Diagnostics.”
Dr Brian Hickey, CEO of Quotient Diagnostics says: “We are very proud to be associated with Professor James and his team who have vast knowledge and experience in the areas of boronate chemistry and glycated proteins. These two fields have a direct bearing on our current technology but could also give rise to new diagnostic tests to be developed for use on either existing or new technology platforms.”
The KTP is in the process of recruiting a Post Doctoral Associate for the project which is funded by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) until 2015.
About Quotient Diagnostcs Ltd. (QDL): QDL was founded in 2002 and acquired by EKF Diagnostics Holdings plc in October 2010. EKF Diagnostics Holdings plc is a manufacturer of blood analysers for haemoglobin, HbA1c, glucose and lactate for use in monitoring and diagnosing anemia, diabetes and associated conditions. More than 41,000 EKF analysers are used throughout 70 countries in blood banks, GP surgeries, diabetes clinics, pharmacies, hospital labs and sports medicine laboratories.
For further information on Knowledge Transfer Partnership please contact:
Clive Bailey (KTP Programme Manager)
Email: C.Bailey@bath.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1225 38 5201
www.ktponline.org.uk/