Protein Ruler to Create Affordable Biosensor Diagnosis for the Many

Project Information

PRABio

Grant agreement ID: 101123202

DOI

10.3030/101123202

Project closed

EC signature date 19 June 2023

Start date 1 September 2023

End date 28 February 2025

Funded under

• European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 150 000,00

Coordinated by

LUNDS UNIVERSITET
Sweden

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PRABio (Protein Ruler to Create Affordable Biosensor Diagnosis for the Many)

Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2025-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Ovarian cancer is the most common malignancy of the female reproductive system worldwide, and the leading cause of death from gynecological cancer. However, if diagnosed during the early stages, patients have a good prognosis, at around 90% 5-year survival rate. Despite its lethality, there are currently no effective simple tests for diagnosis nor population-based screening techniques for ovarian cancer. Emerging tests detecting cancer biomarkers have the potential for greatest impact for surveillance and early detection, such as the FDA approved CA125 and HE4 biomarkers. Importantly, because the levels of these biomarkers are not the same among all healthy females and increase with age, these tests should be quantitative. Current quantitative diagnostic tests for CA125 and HE4 detection are expensive, require high-cost infrastructures and trained professionals. Therefore, there is an urgent need for developing cheap, reliable, easy-to-use quantitative tests for ovarian cancer biomarkers. Lateral flow tests (e.g. pregnancy tests) are cheap, easy-to-use but not designed to be quantitative. In this project, ground-breaking innovating research will give rise to the next generation lateral flow technology, enabling the detection of cancer biomarkers in a manner that is quantitative, and yet simple, portable and cheap.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

We have demonstrated the precise measurement of biomarker concentration in serum using lateral flow tests, in ranges of concentration that are biologically relevant.
The method is self calibrating, device-agnostic and has been successfully tested on several biomarkers, including ovarian cancer biomarkers.
A patent application has been filed and a start-up company, Elyvia Biomedics has been created.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The obtained results consist of a proof of principle that our innovation can provide a platform-technology that meets the need for cheap, fast and reliable measurements of biomarker concentrations. The next step will be to build a prototype and demonstrate its functionality in realistic conditions, i.e. in clinical settings.