Funding Round attributes
The UK-based medical technology company Owlstone Medical has been granted an award of up to $49.1 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The award is for the Platform Optimising SynBio for Early Intervention and Detection in Oncology (POSEIDON) program. Owlstone Medical specializes in developing a breathalyser for disease, aiming to advance non-invasive diagnostics for a range of conditions, including cancer, respiratory and liver diseases, and digestive health disorders. The company's stated goal is to save 100,000 lives and lower healthcare costs by $1.5 billion through earlier disease detection and more precise treatment methods. Central to its work is the Breath Biopsy® platform, a diagnostic modality designed to identify new, non-invasive biomarkers in exhaled breath. This platform utilizes the ReCIVA® Breath Sampler for the reliable collection of breath samples, from which Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are captured and analyzed.
The POSEIDON program, funded by this award, aims to create a first-in-class, synthetic-sensor-based Multi-Cancer-Early Detection (MCED) test. The objective is to develop a test capable of detecting more than 30 types of solid tumors at Stage I using simple breath and urine samples. A key aspect of the program is to make these tests accessible for home use and available over the counter. Owlstone Medical is leading this project in partnership with several institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Qurin B.V., and Planned Systems International Inc. The collective goal is to deliver an accurate and low-cost cancer screening solution to adults aged 18 and older.
The technology behind the project involves the inhalation of a mixture of pan-cancer and tumor-specific synthetic sensors from a single-use inhaler. These sensors circulate throughout the body and are designed to accumulate on the surface of cancer cells. Once there, they produce "reporters" that can be detected. These reporters are either DNA-based, acting as a readable barcode, or a set of VOCs. The reporters are then collected from urine and breath samples, either at home or in a clinic, using portable devices. The results are designed to be uploaded in real-time to electronic health records (EHR) for quick review by healthcare professionals, ensuring seamless integration into clinical practice. This method offers several advantages, including boosting the signal to improve test performance for reliable early-stage detection, non-invasive sample collection, rapid results, and a low-cost manufacturing model to ensure economic viability.
Billy Boyle, co-founder and CEO of Owlstone Medical, emphasized the significance of this development. "Access to an accurate and low-cost MCED test that does not require a doctor’s visit or laboratory testing is key to preventing late-stage diagnoses," he stated. "This award validates both breath as a diagnostic approach and Owlstone’s EVOC® probes as a reporter technology to overcome the shortcomings and challenges that have held back early cancer detection previously. We are grateful to ARPA-H for the opportunity to bring transformative MCED testing to every American within the next decade."
