Brightline Diagnostics incorporates Chelsea’s cutting-edge fluorometric imaging technology into a new lateral flow platform designed to deliver lab sensitivity at point-of-care.

Last month, two highly innovative UK companies, Stream Bio and Chelsea Technologies, announced their exciting new joint venture Brightline Diagnostics (DX), to collaborate on creating a unique lateral flow platform that can be applied to a wide range of diagnostic targets.

Brightline DX’s Claritas platform couples a novel fluorescent lateral flow test with a highly sensitive reader, delivering significant advantages over existing assays. The resulting test platform will be cost effective, rapid (providing quantitative results within minutes), simple to use and applicable to testing in all environments with a robust portable reader. It will also allow batch processing of tests in a laboratory setting, with each test taking only a second or two to be read.

The Claritas reader is based on handheld fluorometric test devices proven in Chelsea Technologies’ environmental and agritech applications. Adapted to the Claritas diagnostic platform, it delivers a superior sensitivity compared with currently available devices.

The Claritas lateral flow test incorporates Stream Bio’s exceptionally bright and stable Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticle (CPN) labels. With superior properties compared to other labels, the intense brightness of CPNs makes them highly sensitive in specific target, and low analyte, detection.

Bringing together a highly sensitive and stable lateral flow test with superior reader technology delivers a test system with significant advantages over those presently available. With the potential to deliver results equivalent to lab-based techniques in a rapid point-of-care system, this represents a step change in testing.

Speaking of the joint venture, Chelsea’s Managing Director Elizabeth Paull, said: “We are delighted to be working with Stream Bio to develop such an exciting and innovative new platform. This collaboration brings together expertise from different sectors to address some of the foremost challenges of our time, revolutionising point of care diagnostics and making ground breaking advances in environmental monitoring.”

Andrew Chaloner, CEO at Stream Bio, said: “We are very excited to embark on this joint venture with Chelsea. Our partnership combines unique and innovative technologies to deliver a pioneering rapid diagnostic platform with many potential applications. We are proud to be developing solutions to current healthcare challenges and excited for the possibilities that the Claritas platform presents.”

Brightline DX’s initial focus is on defined targets within healthcare which includes COVID-19, with plans to expand the capabilities of Claritas to the environmental sector, an approach which capitalises on the strengths of both Stream and Chelsea.

If you would like to work with Brightline DX on development projects and products, please contact: info@brightlinedx.com