H2020 backs heart attack test trials
The European Commission has awarded €1.6m of funding to support a project undertaking clinical trials and the manufacture of a five-minute heart attack test.
FABPulous BV secures the money from phase two of the R&I framework programme’s SME Instrument. The funding will help to produce the necessary clinical evidence to support the adoption of the Heart-type Fatty Acid Binding Protein (H-FABP) True Rapid Test as a way for emergency medical workers to rule out heart attacks before they are required to admit patients to hospital. The money from Horizon 2020 will support the two clinical trials which will be undertaken in the UK and Belgium/the Netherlands.
FABPulous chief executive Conor O’Brien said: “This EU grant brings FABPulous a step closer to producing the crucial tool that will rule out heart attack as a risk for a significant number of patients with chest pain, dramatically cutting unnecessary admissions whilst reducing stress for patients.”
H-FABP True Rapid Test is a whole blood IVD device that is capable of providing reliable detection of the H-FABP, a small myocardial protein that is quickly detectable in capillary blood after a heart attack. The test combines a rapid, equipment free, sample preparation device with an immunoassay test that can be used during the moment of patient/clinician contact at point of care to help provide the necessary clinical evidence to discharge low risk patients earlier with minimal risk. The analysis can be completed within five minutes without the need for instrumentation and is simple enough for non-technical nursing staff to run and interpret.
The grant funding will also allow FABPulous to develop semi-automated manufacturing processes of reproducible quality, to increase manufacturing capacity of the H-FABP True Rapid Test and improve its affordability.
FABPulous is a venture capital-backed company that was spun out of Maastricht University in the Netherlands in 2008.
