Responsible Regional Contact Point
Organisation:	Uminova Innovation AB
Contact person:	Karl-Erik Johansson
Contact details:	Tel. +46 90 15 48 58, Fax +46 90 15 48 67 Box 7978, Tvistevägen 47, SE-907 19 Umeå, Sweden karl-erik.johansson@uminovainnovation.se
Organisation Details
Founded (Year):	1989
No of employees:	1-10
Turnover (US $):	< 250k
Organisation Type:	Company
Company (Organisation) details
The company has profound knowledge and acknowledge competence in the area of clinical bacteriology. Experienced, internationally known Swedish medical researchers and physicians from the core of the company. The partners in the firm all started out as researchers at Umeå University. The research is focused on preventing and/or treating bacterial infections by making use of probiotic bacteria of the normal flora.
Areas of activity:
-  Medicine, Human Health
1) Technology Offer
Group B Streptococcus Serotyping test kit
ABSTRACT: A small Swedish company has developed a fast, accurate and low-cost Group B Streptococcus (GBS) Serotyping test kit. GBS is major cause of life-threatening neonatal infection. Transmission of bacteria to infant is normally done via birth canal. Until today it has been very expensive and time consuming to detect GBS on a large scale. This test kit makes it possible to test the GBS bacteria in a few minutes. The proposer is now searching for partners to exploit this new technology. DESCRIPTION: The test developed by a Swedish SME is based on the principle of co-agglutination. Separate batches of inactivated group B Streptococcal cells (GGS) are coated with rabbit antibodies specific to the polysaccharide type antigens of GBS (Group B Streptococcus). When GBS from a culture plate is mixed with suspensions of coated GGS they agglutinate the suspension coated with the corresponding antibody. The serotyping test may be used for serotype classification of colonising and invasive strains for epidemiological purposes. This test kit recognises the six most frequently occurring serotypes (polysaccharide antigens): Ia, Ib, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII. The proposer has expertise in bacteria and analysis of bacteria spectrums. This test kit can be used by midwives along with every infant’s birth, independent from hospital laboratories. INNOVATIVE ASPECTS: Until today serotyping is an expensive and time-consuming process that must be carried out in special laboratories. The GBS is then developed in certain gels and the result is interpreted. This new technology consists of a complete test kit that can be used on every hospital and by every midwife. It gives a fast and accurate result in a few minutes. MAIN ADVANTADGES / BENEFITS: With a GBS Serotyping test kit 30-40 tests can be done to a price of 250 Euro, i.e. approx. average price of 7 Euro/test. Neither laboratory time nor high costs for staff are needed. The GBS test kit can be stored at 4 - 8 Celsius and has a late expiry date. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS: CURRENT STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT: Development phase - Laboratory tested INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPR): Secret know-how TYPE OF COLLABORATION SOUGHT: • Technical Co-operation / further development / • Financial Resources PARTNER PROFILE: Today the test kit is produced more or less as an handicraft. The proposer is searching for a pharmaceutical company that wishes to combine the expertise of the developer with the large production knowledge (and facilities) of the recipient. To develop the test kit into a standardised test tool at every midwifes and doctors office.
Market application:
-  Health issue diagnosis -  Specific Lab technologies
Further comments	A smaller number of test kits have been distributed to research colleagues
Entry/Update:	2006-12-22  /  2006-12-22