Multi-Allergen Screening Technology (MAST)

We have been working on new technology that will ultimately allow up to 100 tests to be performed on blood without the need to prepare the sample in any way. The first target for the MAST platform will be to screen for allergy. The allergic response occurs when the concentrations of an antibody in the blood reach trigger level and then symptoms of runny nose begin to show. However, concentration much 10,000 times greater than the trigger level can cause a fatal anaphylactic shock. Allergy is on the increase in western cultures although it remains fairly rare on the African continent. What is causing this rise? Some 60 million Americans suffer from some airborne allergy but 11 million have serious, life-threatening food allergies. The technology will allow a simple blood test to be performed at the GP to screen for the top 10, 20 or 100 allergies and give an answer to the patient in 8 minutes. From this profile of allergy we will soon be able to discover whether allergies are related and how they work together to form an extreme response. The technology if successful will cost 5K for each GP surgery and approximately 30 per test. The objective of the current research is to take the instrument in the laboratory and make it ready for a full clinical validation.

The proposed research will take a novel potential MAST technology and perform key proof-of-principle experiments that will demonstrate whether sampling in whole blood is possible for the direct analysis of allergy. Allergy costs the NHS over 900M per year and a further 1bn is lost to the economy from food intolerance in lost work and medical expenditure. Allergy is however a complex response that is increasing in our society evolving during life. The common allergies tested at the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust are: House Dust Mite, Cat Epithelium and Dander, Dog Dander, Grass Pollen, Tree Pollen, Peanut, Wheat, Egg White, Latex. However only two or three are tested each time and little is known about the profile of allergy in people. A new technology capable of testing 10 -100 allergies in 8 minutes will provide clinicians with a new edge on allergy research and a better understanding of the evolution of the condition. The NHS expenditure is in time and laboratory effort in performing the tests and will with a unit price of 17.41 at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. The 10-20 allergy test would cost 30 and the result available in 8 minutes. The small, low-user skill requirement means the tests could be performed in a GP surgery or regional centres of allergy. A recent House of Lords report has placed emphasis on the need to understand allergy, especially food and drug allergy, and has recommended such regional centres. UK plc has an opportunity to develop the MAST technology generating jobs and manufacturing capacity in the UK. A spin-out, Attomarker Ltd, company will be established to develop the commercial potential of the project and we have already engaged investors in this field. There are a number of key development stages which will be addressed by the proposed research which should allow us to raise the 5M to bring the product to market. The EPSRC in the Follow-on fund fosters such innovation and will then have aided the transfer of new technology to the Market place. Undoubtedly education is a significant impact of EPSRC funded research and the Follow-on fund offers a Post doctoral research fellow the opportunity to develop the technology against the objectives not of fundamental research but of the need to spin-out the technology. This novel skill set will demonstrate at first hand the need for a less than perfect but market-leading instrument in the first stage with exposure to the venture capital community and the entrepreneurship required to found a business.