Owlstone Medical Opens New High Volume Breath Biopsy Lab with Tony Blair Visit

Published on 17 Mar 17

New facilities will enable high quality and high throughput Biomarker Services, for identification of novel breath biomarkers in disease diagnostics and precision medicine applications

Cambridge, UK, 17 March 2017: Owlstone Medical Ltd, a diagnostics company developing a breathalyzer for disease, today welcomed Tony Blair to its headquarters in Cambridge, UK where he officially opened the company’s new high volume clinical laboratory.

During the visit, Mr Blair learned more about the company’s Breath Biopsy® technology and its mission to save 100,000 lives and $1.5 billion in healthcare costs. He was also given a tour of Owlstone Medical headquarters including the new clinical lab and other research facilities.

The opening of a new clinical lab with increased capacity enables Owlstone Medical to offer high quality and high throughput Biomarker Services to academics, clinicians, pharmaceutical companies and CROs to identify novel breath biomarkers for disease diagnostics as well as precision medicine applications including therapeutic response, patient stratification and outcome prediction.

The clinical lab also provides VOC biomarker analysis of breath samples and other biospecimens from the on-going clinical trials in Owlstone Medical’s own clinical pipeline: early detection of lung cancer (LuCID), colorectal cancer (InTERCEPT) and treatment stratification in asthma (STRATA).

Billy Boyle, co-founder and CEO at Owlstone Medical commented: “Our new high volume clinical lab follows the successful commercial launch of our Biomarker Services earlier this year and the announcement of our first clinical and pharma customers. Having a state-of-the-art and globally unique capability allows us to increase capacity to handle large service projects as well as support our ongoing clinical trials.”

Tony Blair said: “I congratulate Owlstone Medical on the opening of its new clinical lab. It was a pleasure to meet the dedicated staff of this successful, dynamic company, united in their clear vision to save lives. The breath biopsy technology has huge potential to lead to great improvements in healthcare, and I wish the team every success in developing a company that will become a leader in next generation diagnostics.”

To find out more about Owlstone Medical visit:  www.owlstonemedical.com

ENDS

Notes to Editors

For a high resolution images please contact sarah.jeffery@zymecommunications.com

Media contact

For more information please contact:

Sarah Jeffery, Zyme Communications

sarah.jeffery@zymecommunications.com

+44 (0)7771 730919

About Owlstone Medical:  www.owlstonemedical.com

Owlstone Medical has developed a breathalyzer for disease. With a focus on non-invasive diagnostics for cancer, infectious disease and inflammatory disease, the company aims to save 100,000 lives and $1.5B in health care costs by 2020.

The company’s microchip FAIMS (Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility Spectrometer) sensor is a platform technology that can be programmed in software to detect targeted biomarkers of disease in breath (and other bodily fluids). FAIMS can be used in clinical diagnostics and precision medicine with application in cancer and a wide range of other medical conditions. Highly sensitive and selective, these tests allow for early diagnosis when treatments are more effective and where more lives can be saved.

Owlstone Medical is currently developing tests for lung and colorectal cancer, two of the most common cancer killers worldwide. The company also sells R&D tools and services to academic, clinical and pharma partners who want to develop breath based diagnostics for their own applications.

Founded in 2004 as a spin-out from the Engineering Department at the University of Cambridge, Owlstone Inc is a profitable business selling its proven FAIMS technology to military and industrial customers globally. Owlstone Medical was spun out from Owlstone Inc in 2016 to develop and commercialise FAIMS in diagnostic applications.

Owlstone Medical is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, with offices in London, UK.