Project description
New technology detects semen stains in sexual assault investigations
Even though reports of rape have increased, the same cannot be said for conviction rates. In fact, the conviction rate is less than 5 %. This means that the alleged perpetrators of more than 95 % of rapes reported to the police are allowed to go free. One way to reverse this trend and to increase convictions is to improve the technology used to detect sperm, which is the most reliable marker for the investigation in cases of rape. Current methods can detect 10 % of sperm traces. The EU-funded Themis project will introduce the STK Spray, an on-scene sperm-revealing technology, which can identify the presence of sperm on any floor, object, skin and hair strand, even on grass. The new solution is described as a game changer for crime scene technicians.
Objective
More than 5 million rapes are committed globally each year and 1 woman out of 5 will face rape during her lifetime. For 1 000 rapes, only 4.6 rapists will go to jail because rape is highly under-reported but also because police uses tools that can only detect 10% of sperm traces on crime scene.
AXO Science is a biotech created in 2010 that develops innovative products for forensic science, police and justice. With this Themis project, the company introduces “STK Spray”, an on-scene sperm-revealing technology that will disrupt the way crime scene investigation is conducted in case of rape. While forensic lamps fail to detect 90% of sperm traces on a scene, resulting in lengthy and often pointless screening of samples sent to labs, STK Spray sharply reveals the presence of sperm on any floor, object, skin, hair, grass… in one single minute. This is a game-changer for Crime Scene Technicians (CST). A major bottleneck for police investigation and sexual offenders DNA identification is unlocked in a few sprays. This performance is backed by a successful proof of concept done during SME Phase 1 project SexAssault-ID.
In this Themis project, AXO Science will scale-up this technology and prepare for a massive commercialisation of the product worldwide. STK Spray is a perfect match with AXO Science’s current forensic product portfolio, enabling it to become a one-stop-shop for CST and the first world leader for on-scene sperm trace detection. AXO Science will leverage its existing network of customers and distributors to ease STK Spray market access.
This project will trigger durable, hyper growth at AXO Science. The company expects to grab a 17% share of the 134M€ sperm detection market by 2025. It will also achieve a deep organisational transformation with the doubling of headcount by 2022, creation of two subsidiaries overseas by 2025 and its mutation from a research SME to a global business company with three-digit valuation objectives within a decade.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
69004 Lyon
France
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.