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RNS Number : 2825R
Deepverge PLC
04 November 2021
4 November 2021
DeepVerge PLC
("DeepVerge" or "Company")
Government of Ireland supports DeepVerge Centre of Excellence
with EUR750k grant in a EUR1.8m project to accelerate mass
production of a range of Microtox(R) PD instruments
Collaborations with Aptamer Group and Microsaic Systems target
multiple infectious diseases and contaminants of emerging concern
as part of project extension
DeepVerge (LSE:DVRG.L), announces that the Irish Government,
through its state investment agency Enterprise Ireland [i] , has
awarded the Company a grant of EUR0.75 million (GBP0.63m) subject
to contract, as part funding of a EUR1.8m project to accelerate
design, assembly and mass production of a range of infectious
disease and pathogen detection instruments, creating new
instruments (as opposed to retrofits) capable of being mass
produced in different sizes .
DeepVerge has been gearing up in Cork in 2021 to meet existing
demand by retrofitting its optofluidic technology to established
Modern Water equipment. This government supported development
programme is a key part of the acceleration process to move quickly
to mass producible instruments for automated monitoring of COVID19
and other pathogens in wastewater treatment plants as well as
smaller units for hospitals, schools, offices and buildings.
As part of the R&D expansion, the diagnostic division of the
Company in York, UK, has formed a deeper collaboration relationship
with the Aptamer Group, York, UK for the development of a range of
Optimers [ii] to bind other viruses beyond SARS-CoV-2 that include,
but are not limited to, PMMoV [iii] , Influenza A [iv] , Influenza
B [v] , and Polio [vi] in wastewater, and E.coli [vii] in drinking
water.
In addition, Modern Water will demonstrate Forever Chemical
detection and identification in real-time with integrated Microsaic
Systems plc miniaturised mass-spectrometry units.
These are being installed in York and Cork and are being added
to existing field trials with DeepVerge's partners and customers in
the US, UK, China and India to illustrate the technology's
capability to monitor and detect pollutants doing untold damage to
human and environmental health. Forever Chemicals are becoming
increasingly subject to the new wave of worldwide regulation with
the US and EU already putting steps in place to limit damage from
these man-made chemicals.
Gerard Brandon CEO of DeepVerge plc commented:
"After extensive due diligence undertaken by Enterprise Ireland,
we have secured their financial and global network support to
accelerate mass production design to meet the demand of not just
the industrial scale COVID19 pandemic response equipment but to
reduce the size and lower the cost of early warning disease
monitoring equipment as part of the Digital Health Revolution.
Getting to mass produced instruments of different sizes and
costs is a key priority of our business to fulfil this worldwide
need and we have invested heavily and will continue to invest to
create a new generation of instruments that the market demands. The
financial support and global network access from the Irish
Government and deeper partnerships such as with the Aptamer Group
and Microsaic and others allows this rapid and focused progress
immediately. It also endorses our original objective in the RNS
[viii] of 6 May 2021 of setting up a worldwide 'Centre of
Excellence' to develop collaborative solutions for monitoring human
and environmental health through our wastewater systems."
Dr Aaron Tolly, CEO of Aptamer Group commented:
We are really pleased to enable DeepVerge's increased testing
capabilities for a broader range of viral targets in both
wastewater and drinking water with our Optimer platform. The
Microtox PD system has shown great results across trials for real
time monitoring of COVID 19, and we are excited to move to the next
phase with this partnership to develop new Optimer binders for
integration into these multiplexed testing systems.
Glenn Tracey CEO of Microsaic Systems commented :
We are pleased with progress over the last 10 months working
with Modern Water and in particular of being part of the growing
centre of excellence between York and Fermoy. The work will shortly
bear fruit with our micro-engineered mass-spec [ix] equipment being
installed in field trials for eight forever chemicals (PFAS) in US,
UK, China and India. These initial 8 detections give us data and
proof points that suggest our tech can relentlessly expand to
detect hundreds, if not thousands, of other bad actors that make up
the family of Forever Chemicals and Contaminants of Emerging
Concern in our waterways"
DeepVerge has seen demand for its retrofitted COVID19 detection
equipment grow this year as Governments around the world come to
terms with their population's health needing to be monitored in
real-time to identify and prevent community disease outbreaks.
Microtox(R) PD's unique pandemic response surveillance technology
has proven robust in field trials where retrofitted Microtox(R)
instruments have shown the potential of cost effective mass
surveillance.
The current production of the Microtox(R) PD suite will extend
to deliver an 'all in one' detection solution on multiplex chips as
well as existing the overall Microtox range across three levels of
detection - Toxicity/Heavy metals, Pathogens and Forever Chemicals.
Customers will choose detection for diseases/pollution that are
most prevalent in their areas. In addition, with the ability to
detect more than 2,700 pathogens built by Modern Water over an
extensive history of 34 years, the Company has shown the ability to
react quickly to existing threats and is putting resources and
technology in place in readiness for the next, as yet unknown,
threat.
Contacts
+44 (0) 7340 055
DeepVerge plc Gerard Brandon, CEO 648
SPARK Advisory Partners
Limited Neil Baldwin/Andrew +44 (0) 113 370
(Nominated Adviser) Emmott 8974
Turner Pope Investments Andy Thacker/James +44 (0) 20 3657
(TPI) Limited (Broker) Pope 0050
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
This announcement contains inside information as stipulated
under the UK version of the market abuse regulation no 596/2014
which is part of English law by virtue of the European (withdrawal)
act 2018, as amended. On publication of this announcement via a
regulatory information service, this information is considered to
be in the public domain.
About DeepVerge plc (www.deepverge.com)
DeepVerge is an environmental and life science group of
companies that develops and applies AI and IoT technology to
analytical instruments for the analysis and identification of
bacteria, virus and toxins. Utilising artificial intelligent data
analytics to scientifically prove the impact of skincare product
claims on skin microbiome for most of the top 20 global cosmetic
company clients and remotely detect and identify in real-time,
dangerous pathogens in wastewater treatment plants, drinking water,
rivers, lakes and reservoirs.
[i] Enterprise Ireland is an Irish state economic development
agency focused on helping Irish-based business deliver new export
sales. The aim of Enterprise Ireland is to accelerate the
development of Irish enterprises capable of achieving strong
positions in global markets resulting in increased national and
regional prosperity and purchasing power.
(https://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/)
[ii] Optimer binders are aptamers that have been optimised
according to the target, the desired end-use, and the best
manufacturing profile. Aptamers are oligonucleotide molecules,
selected from large libraries to bind a specific target.
[iii] Pepper mild mottle virus: In an article from the Applied
and Environmental Microbiology Journal, it was found that PMMoV
could be a potential indicator of faecal pollution. Their results
demonstrate that PMMoV is widespread and abundant in wastewater
from the United States , suggesting the utility of this virus as an
indicator of human faecal pollution.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_mild_mottle_virus
[iv] Influenza A virus virus causes influenza in birds and some
mammals and is the only species of the genus Alphainfluenzavirus of
the virus family Orthomyxoviridae. Strains of all subtypes of
influenza A virus have been isolated from wild birds, although
disease is uncommon. Some isolates of influenza A virus cause
severe disease both in domestic poultry and, rarely, in humans.
Occasionally, viruses are transmitted from wild aquatic birds to
domestic poultry, and this may cause an outbreak or give rise to
human influenza pandemics.
[v] Influenza B virus is known only to infect humans and seals.
This limited host range is apparently responsible for the lack of
associated influenza pandemics in contrast with those caused by the
morphologically similar influenza A virus as both mutate by both
antigenic drift and reassortment
[vi] Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an
infectious disease caused by the poliovirus and is usually spread
from person to person through infected fecal matter entering the
mouth.[1] It may also be spread by food or water containing human
feces and less commonly from infected saliva.[1][3] Those who are
infected may spread the disease for up to six weeks even if no
symptoms are present.[1] The disease may be diagnosed by finding
the virus in the feces or detecting antibodies against it in the
blood. The disease occurs naturally only in humans
[vii] Escherichia coli, also known as E. coli is a
Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform
bacterium of the genus Escherichia that is commonly found in the
lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms. Most E. coli strains are
harmless, but some serotypes (EPEC, ETEC etc.) can cause serious
food poisoning in their hosts, and are occasionally responsible for
food contamination incidents that prompt product recalls.
[viii]
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/DVRG/new-ai-centre-of-excellence-in-cork/14965354
[ix] Micro-engineered mass-spec is a patented chip-based mass
spectrometry (MS)technology enables point-of-need detection at any
stage in a user's workflow. Designed for the pharmaceutical and
biopharmaceutical industries, the powerful, compact MS systems and
software deliver processing and manufacturing agility, as well as
commercial productivity.
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