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Leader in lateral flow device manufacturing excited about future collaborations with Highfield Diagnostics on manufacturing next generation flowDx^TM tests

Southampton, UK, and Berlin, Germany, July 5th, 2022.

Highfield Diagnostics Ltd (HDx) and SCIENION GmbH have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the development and deployment of equipment which can mass manufacture lateral flow tests (LFTs) that incorporate HDx’s flowDx technology.

The MoU lays out the framework of the cooperation, which will include utilization of SCIENION’s world-class design and manufacturing capabilities to finalize equipment designs and manufacturing processes for the cost-effective and high throughput production of flowDx enabled LFTs.

flowDx allows precise control of fluidic flows in a LFT, enabling capabilities including parallel multiplexing, enhanced accuracy, and semi-quantitative results.

This pioneering technology is the result of more than seven years of academic research, conducted mainly via funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) – one of the world’s leading institutes for photonics research at the University of Southampton.

Dr Julian Kirby, Business Development Manager at SCIENION UK, said: “HDx’s flowDx technology represents a generational leap forward in lateral flow device design. We are excited about the potential of working with HDx to scale this technology and bring these next generation devices to mass production.”

flowDx has enormous potential for broad, large-scale application within the LFT market, which has recently seen dramatic expansion and public acceptance as COVID-19 rapid tests have taken on an important role in pandemic management.

Dr Collin Sones, CTO of Highfield Diagnostics Ltd, said: “SCIENION is a world-leading manufacturer for LFT equipment with their ability for precision dispensing, and this is exactly what we require for the large-scale manufacture of our bespoke devices. During the work that we have done together to date, the SCIENION team have impressed us deeply with their technical brilliance and culture of innovation. With our collaboration, we look forward to further crediting SCIENION’s sterling reputation and market leadership.  We are especially excited about SCIENION’s in-house high volume LFT production capacity and leveraging that capacity for HDx products.”

flowDx technology has been developed to be low cost and easy to incorporate into large-scale manufacture of LFTs. “We believe that with SCIENION, we will be able to achieve a cost impact of less than one penny per test while maintaining existing manufacturing speeds,” Prof Robert Eason, Director of HDx, said.

HDx will utilize flowDx in partnership with global diagnostics companies and with the University of Southampton’s Faculty of Medicine to develop proprietary, point-of-care diagnostic solutions to address the most urgent and challenging problems in global health.

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About SCIENION

Founded in 2001, SCIENION is a renowned specialist in ultra-low volume precision liquid handling in the pico-liter to micro-liter range, enabling applications from research to high-throughput production of assays in diagnostics and life sciences. Addressing the dynamically increasing needs for miniaturization and multiplex analyses, SCIENION is an ISO 9001:2015 certified complete solution provider offering a unique portfolio of automated precision dispensing systems, readers, consumables, assay development and contract manufacturing services. The company operates from two sites in Germany, Berlin and Dortmund, and has subsidiaries in Phoenix, Arizona (USA), Chichester (UK), and Lyon (France). The French subsidiary Cellenion offers solutions for single cell analyses, e.g. with the single cell dispenser cellenONE and products such as cellenCHIP and proteoCHIP for omics-based applications.

SCIENION is part of BICO, the leading bio convergence company in the world that provides technologies, products and services to create the future of health.

Contact SCIENION
SCIENION GmbH
Volmerstraße 7b
D-12489 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30 – 6392 1700
support@scienion.com
www.scienion.com

PR Contact SCIENION
Almut Gebhard
Phone +49 (0)30 – 6120 1081
Mobile +49 (0)174 3017754
Email scienion@almutgebhard.de

About Highfield Diagnostics Ltd

Highfield Diagnostics (HDx) is a spin-out from the University of Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre and is poised to create the next generation of rapid point-of-care diagnostics using its pioneering, patented technology. The HDx team has over 25 years of academic and practical experience and works with clinical teams and diagnostics manufacturers around the world to research, design and develop laser-patterned, precision paper-based diagnostics.

Contact HDx
Highfield Diagnostics Ltd
White Building Studios,
1-4 Cumberland Place,
Southampton, UK, SO15 2NP
Phone: +30 (0)7922049464
info@highfielddiagnostics.co.uk
www.highfielddiagnostics.co.uk