EPONA BIOTECH:WAITING FOR blood test results slows down the diagnostic and treatment process for animals as well as humans. A new portable blood analyser developed by Epona Biotech in Sligo is set to dramatically improve how blood tests for horses are carried out.

Currently equine blood samples have to be sent to a reference laboratory for analysis. Epona’s product claims to generate instant blood results at the horse’s side with laboratory-standard accuracy. This will allow vets to make immediate treatment interventions.

Epona Biotech was founded in March 2008 by Dr Heinrich Anhold and has its offices at the Business Innovation Centre in the Institute of Technology in Sligo. The company expects to bring its first products to market in 2012.

Epona recently won the best emerging company of the year at the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn competition. “Participating in the Seedcorn competition forced us to refine and improve our investor pitch and to ensure our focus was on funding what is happening in the laboratory,” says Anhold. “We plan to use the funding secured from Seedcorn to add to our employee base in Sligo.”

Anhold studied physiology at NUI Galway and later completed a PhD in biochemistry. A keen horseman who has represented Ireland in showjumping at an international level, Anhold had seen the potential of point-of-care diagnostics for horses and began thinking about how this could be achieved.

“I identified that there were emerging technologies that could meet those needs,” he says. “My idea then was to partner with a larger company in human diagnostics to commercialise a product in animal healthcare, initially focusing on horses.”

Having spent time researching potential partners, Anhold aimed big and approached international giant Philips.

The Dutch giant signed a licensing deal with Epona Biotech last May.

“That really got us going,” says Anhold. “We have been in a totally different position since then. We now have a working prototype of the reader and we are working on an extensive research and development programme focused on generating laboratory-standard accuracy at the stable door.

“We have already raised substantial funding through the business expansion scheme to advance the project and this will remain open into next year.”