SQI Diagnostics has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SQI and Owlstone Medical to work together on the discovery, development and commercialization of breath-based biomarkers relating to invasive aspergillus lung infection and lung transplant rejection. 

Owlstone Medical, the global leader in Breath Biopsy for applications in early disease detection and precision medicine, is a Cambridge, UK company.  

Fungal lung infection is a large risk for certain vulnerable people such as transplant patients, where one-year survival rates for invasive aspergillosis following lung transplant is only 59 per cent. This is largely because antifungal therapies are not appropriate for patients who are on immunosuppressants, and so early and reliable diagnosis of fungal infection is critical.

The current gold-standard diagnostic procedures for lung transplant rejection require the regular collection of tissue samples from the lung, which is invasive, expensive and can lead to serious complications. There is therefore a clear need for a better solution. Owlstone Medical's non-invasive Breath Biopsy platform represents a better approach to current methods, which alongside SQI's deep experience in lung transplant diagnostics will be used to identify and deploy novel breath-based biomarkers that can indicate early rejection of organs in lung transplant patients.

"With SQI's strategic interest in lung transplant biomarkers, we're excited to collaborate with Owlstone in applying the discovery, development and commercialisation of biomarkers of acute cellular rejection and perhaps chronic rejection," said Andrew Morris, President and CEO of SQI Diagnostics. "This MOU can help further establish SQI's leadership in commercialising diagnostic testing for healthcare professionals and patients as we extend SQI's diagnostics across the continuum of care for organ transplant patients."