Sector: Pharmaceutical Diagnostics Research and Development: July 2008
Diabetes is a disease that has become endemic in recent times, with a staggering 15% of the entire annual NHS budget being spent on treating diabetes and resulting complications.
The importance therefore, of being able to better treat this condition can hardly be overstated, with any potential treatment needing to overcome a central challenge of being able to easily monitor blood glucose levels on a regular basis.
In this regard, decades of research have yielded the finger-prick method, followed by analysis of glucose using an indicator strip; this in its own right is highly invasive with potential for infections, and with serious limitations in terms of the number of readings that can be taken in any given time.
Dermal diagnostics was spun out of Nemaura Pharma Limited to aid the development and commercialisation of a non-invasive patch system that would measure blood glucose levels almost on a continuous basis throughout the day, thus alerting the patient to periods of very high or very low blood glucose levels.
The technology was the recipient of a grant award of approximately £775,000, for a collaborative development project, and with further equity investment of over £320,000, a research and development exercise was initiated in September 2008. To date the company have made significant progress with the system and expect to enter into licensing arrangements before the end of 2010.
1st Ethical were pivotal in ensuring that appropriate funds were secured for Dermal Diagnostics. This was achieved within a tight timeframe, within a Sharī‘ah-compliant legal framework. Furthermore 1st Ethical continues to provide valuable contacts which will help Dermal Diagnostics secure future investment to bring their technology to market globally.