A portable “lab” on a chip that can be connected to a smartphone to produce life-saving blood test results on the spot for patients is a step closer to commercial release, thanks to a $2.05-million cash infusion from investor partners.
About half of the money is coming from the federal government via its Grand Challeges Canada program, which funds innovators working in the science, technology, social and business fields. The rest of the funding, announced Monday, comes from a collaboration among Canadian social angel investors, the Ontario Centres of Excellence, MaRS Innovation, the University of Toronto and Maple Leaf Angels, a group that invests in seed and early-stage companies. It’s considered one of the largest ever “angel” investments in the Canadian health care sector.
The financing will allow Toronto-based ChipCare Corporation to work with a lab protoype, created by graduate U of T researchers, over the next three years and develop the commercial product.
The ChipCare device will work this way: A disposable cartridge with a pinprick of patient blood will be inserted into a chip-enabled reader, hooked up to an Android cellphone, whose screen will display the analysis.
Valerie Hauch
The Star
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