Life sciences firm to take part in Dundee hepatitis C trial

Up to 40 pharmacies to be covered by study

AIM-listed molecular diagnostics firm Genedrive yesterday announced it will participate in a hepatitis C study led by Dundee University.

Manchester-based Genedrive produces an assay that can diagnose hepatitis C (HCV) within 90 minutes.

The multi-centre trial will assess the impact of outreach hepatitis C diagnostics and therapy in a pharmacy setting versus commercial treatments.

Funded by pharmaceutical firm AbbVie, the study will be led by John Dillon, professor of hepatology and gastroenterology at Dundee University.

It will cover up to 40 pharmacies across three sites in Scotland, Wales, and Australia. The study is expected to enrol approximately 140 patients over two years.

David Budd, chief executive of Genedrive, said: “The advancement of molecular diagnostics to the point of need will provide faster treatment decisions to patients who have difficulty accessing traditional centralised services.

“We see the requirement for test and treat outside of centralised services as a common theme across our menu targets.”

The study will focus on people undergoing opiate substitute therapy and determine if more people with hepatitis C can be treated and cured.

Mr Dillon said: “I am delighted that this study is now starting. It is vital that if we are to eliminate HCV, we must find novel ways of using paradigm shifting technology like Genedrive HCV-ID in care pathways, to bring cure of HCV to the people who need it most.”

Genedrive’s HCV test has been launched in Africa and Asia and has a distribution agreement in place in India.

The company also has tests in development for tuberculosis and antibiotic induced hearing loss.