NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Scottish startup Natantis said today that it has been awarded £574,000 ($724,497) by the Scottish Enterprise's High Growth Spin-Out Program to commercialize a device for the automated extraction of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from blood.
Natantis — founded by researchers at Heriot-Watt University — has developed the CNAsafe device, which it says can extract cfDNA from whole blood in 45 minutes for use in liquid biopsy assays.
The company expects to spin out from the university in 2020 and said it is in discussions with a number of potential investors.
"There is a very real market opportunity here and with its CNAsafe device, the Natantis team is primed to seize that opportunity," said Andrew Henderson of Scottish Enterprise's High Value Manufacturing and Health team in a statement. "I look forward to following the team's progress as they spin out into a fully-fledged company and make their mark on the world of medicine."