University startup secures backing for lung test tech
ABIOMEDICAL university spin-out based in Newcastle has secured £1.4m investment and £700,000 in grants to commercialise its lung testing tech.
PulmoBioMed, developed out of Northumbria University, has attracted backing in a round led by the North East Venture Fund supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia Ventures, and included Northumbria University, SFC Capital and private investors in the USA, EU and UK. Meanwhile grant funding has come from Innovate UK.
The firm, which plans to expand out of the university into Newcastle city centre creating seven jobs, has developed a breath test that can support diagnosis of asthma and other conditions including pneumonias.
Most existing sampling cannot distinguish when fluid samples from the deep lung have been contaminated from the mouth, but PulmoBioMed’s handheld device – called PBM-HALE – can separate large aerosol droplets which come from the mouth from fine droplets which come from the deep lung.
The PBM-HALE unit is said to be 40 times cheaper than more invasive endoscopy. And having already completed one UK government contract, PulmoBioMed now has its sights on US market where it will focus on asthma diagnosis
The firm was founded by molecular biologist Dr Sterghios Moschos, who led a team that developed a point-of-need test for Ebola virus disease in 2015 during the outbreak in West Africa. He is joined by an accomplished team that includes professor Sir Peter J. Barnes, an authority on airways disease, and Dr Huw Edwards, the founding CEO of the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association.
Dr Moschos said: “PulmoBioMed was founded during the pandemic to address the need for reliable breathbased diagnostics.
“We have solved fundamental problems to enable quick and noninvasive deep lung sampling, with minimal training, and as frequently as necessary.
“Over 300 million asthma patients suffer slow diagnosis and millions of others are hospitalised every year
with pneumonias that are impossible to diagnose with current tests. By helping clinicians understand their patient’s disease and select treatments that work, PBM-HALE has the potential to transform respiratory care.”
Professor Andy Long, vice-chancellor and chief executive at Northumbria University, said: “PulmoBioMed’s technology has the potential to deliver enormous impact in healthcare on a global scale and we are thrilled to see this recognised
through strong investor confidence in this Northumbria spin-out.
“This investment success reflects the calibre of the University’s growing pipeline of IP arising from our world-class research and highly entrepreneurial teams. It further evidences our commitment to driving economic growth in the region, boosting the development of new businesses and supporting the creation of new high-quality jobs here in the North East.”
Alex Simpson of Mercia Ventures
added: “PulmoBioMed’s success demonstrates the rise of the healthtech industry in regions like the North East.
“World-class innovations are no longer confined to the ‘golden triangle’ of Oxford, Cambridge and London – regional companies like PulmoBioMed are emerging as important players, thanks in part to the strength of regional universities and support available from funds such as the NEVF alongside private investors.”