Antrim company receives share of £1m research funding

Antrim–based, Randox Technologies is set to share nearly £1m in government research funding.

The medical research company is one of six company's to be awarded funding as part of the Department of Trade and Industry's BIO-WISE Programme, which encourages UK manufacturing and service companies to realise the economic and environmental benefits of biotechnology.

Randox will receive £241,000 for a two-year project to scale-up production of new improved medical diagnostic testing technology.

Commenting on the funding, Ian Pearson, NIO Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment said: “This support is a further and significant endorsement by Government of the global potential of pioneering diagnostic technology currently being developed by Randox, an enterprising and ambitious Northern Ireland company.

“It also signals our recognition that Northern Ireland’s fast developing biotechnology industry can become a key driver of future economic growth. I believe that Northern Ireland has a wealth of expertise and a commitment to innovation in companies and especially within the two universities to become an internationally respected biotechnology centre.”

Randox's new technology will provide clinicians with tests that are not currently available on any other diagnostic system, and thereby increase the number of tests that can be carried out on patients’ samples. This will improve patient care through the provision of a wider range of diagnostic tests and more accurate diagnosis for many diseases, including heart disease and cancer.

The six awards represent Government funding of nearly £1 million towards a portfolio of 21 projects - £3 million in total.

This brings total government/industry investment in BIO-WISE demonstrator projects to just under £9.5 million since 1999.

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