Embio Diagnostics LTD (CY)

EMBIO DIAGNOSTICS is a specialty biotechnological company focused on the development of a multi-source diagnostic method based on biosensors. The company specializes in the development of turn-key portable, point-of-care (POC) diagnostic devices. More specifically it focuses on the development of sophisticated, portable cell biosensors for the detection of pesticides, biological warfare, animal/human viruses & inflammation markers by means of membrane and genetic engineering. EMBIO was established in 2007.

Technology and R&D

The company's two landmark products are the Bioelectric Recognition Assay (BERA) cell biosensors and the Molecular Identification through Membrane Engineering (MIME) technology, which are widely appreciated as standard analysis tools for mass screening of chemical and biochemical compounds. The BERA technology has many potential applications and can be modified to detect a wide range of new or mutated analytes. Artificial Neural Networks are used for the automated processing of biosensor signals. Most of the products and technologies are patented worldwide. BERA has been tested and validated by a very large number of organizations and companies, including several agricultural cooperatives, Humboldt University (Berlin, Germany), Auburn University (USA), the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID, USA) and the company Orgenics (Israel). In particular, the company's FOODALERT® Pesticide Sensor represents a totally new generation of analytical instruments, enabling the implementation of food safety analysis by even minor users, such as small agricultural unions or food companies. With FOODALERT® only, EMBIO is targeting a 3,6 billion € market in the EU-27 region,

The novel BERA-based FOODALERT biosensor system for pesticide residue detection offers a number of significant advantages, such as high speed, lower cost and the ability to monitor, in real-time, the presence or otherwise of pesticide residues on food products. It also replicates the characteristics of the laboratory based systems in that it retains the reproducibility, accuracy, selectivity and sensitivity.

Currently the BERA system exists as a laboratory scale prototype, focused on pharmaceutical applications and some of the novelty of this project is in the miniaturisation of the components and the computing power of the system.

Target partners & Collaborations

EMBIO has an extended international network of collaborators and is mainly interested for partners with expertise in electronic engineering, medical device technology and signal transduction and processing systems.

The current, laboratory scale, 96 well assay plate system
(left: the complete, ready-to-use system; right: the disposable 96-well immobilized cell array)

The BERA technology has many potential applications and can be modified to detect a wide range of new or mutated analytes. Apart from FOODALERT®, the latest series of EMBIO sensors include products for the ultra-rapid, low cost detection of the following targets:

Virology	- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) - Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and antibodies - Hepatits C Virus (HCV) and antibodies - Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) - Varicela Zoster Virus (HZV)
Oncology	Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)
Endocrinology	Estradiol (E2)
Metabolic diseases	Oxygen superoxide radical

The main advantages of the BERA system are:

• Ultra-high speed: an assay can be completed in less than three minutes.
• High-sensitivity: at least ten times higher than conventional methods, including liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS), (detection limit: one part per trillion).
• Low cost: not exceeding €30 per assay batch.
• Huge capacity: an unskilled operator can test more than 500 samples per day.
• Full portability

• EMBIO started a collaboration (including pilot trials) with the world's biggest tobacco trading company, Alliance One International (www.aointl.com).
• The AFRIBERA initiative was launched, planning to revolutionize infectious disease screening in Africa. Government-level collaboration has been agreed upon in several countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and Mozambique.
• A new BERA-based product was developed, for the detection of the carcinogenic 2,4,6-trichloroanisol (TCA) in wine, an international target of analytical laboratories. This was done in collaboration with the University of Barcelona. Following this development, EMBIO started a collaboration with Portugal Cork (www.portugalcork.com), the world's largest producer and distributor of cork.
• EMBIO signed a collaboration agreement with the diagnostic instrument manufacturer BIOSURFIT (www.biosurfit.com).