Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FOCALISE (Facile Oxygen Consumption Assay for Lacteal Industry and Spoilage Evaluation)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2018-09-01 al 2018-12-31
Illness and death from diseases caused by contaminated food and water are a constant threat to public health. Several pathogen detection and diagnostic techniques coexist nowadays, from the traditional culture-based method to rapid immunological methods such as ELISA and molecular biology-based methods such as PCR. Despite these latter technologies are commonly used and represent an improvement over traditional testing, there is still room for advancement. Focalise (Facile Oxygen Consumption Assay for the Lacteal Industry and Spoilage Evaluation) by Oxoprobics Biosciences is a reliable, fast and cost-effective analytical method for in-situ, real-time quantification of foodborne pathogens. The objectives of the project are the technical upgrade of the microplates, their external validation and the setting of the protocols for process industrialization. The project will last 20 months.
The Technical feasibility assessment enabled us to develop the technical plans to add a pH probe and antimicrobial susceptibility testing to the microplates in order to meet industry needs, as well as the procedures for their’ external validation and mass production. In the Commercial Feasibility Study, we concluded that the dairy product subsector is the most attractive for Focalise market introduction. We also established our commercial strategy and identified the most relevant stakeholders and update our Freedom to Operate, as well as investigate the certifications required for microplates commercialization. Finally, in the Financial Feasibility Study, we determined the production costs, update the sales forecast and carry out a conservative cash flow for the 5 years after Phase 2 completion.
Focalise are customizable 96- and 384-well microplates precoated with a patented sensing technology for real-time monitoring of microorganisms and even whole living organism for food quality assurance and rapid stock release. The system is highly sensitive to pathogen’ detection compared to current state-of-the-art and user-friendly since it does not require complex laboratory equipment nor specially trained staff. Focalise brings important economic benefits to end-users since the substitution of traditional Petri dishes by our ready-to-use microplates enables savings up to €145,635 per year and it does not require any extra reagents nor biohazardous waste is not generated. Oxoprobics also offers professional consultancy and analytical services based on this technology.