University spinout life sciences firm Llusern Scientific boosted with equity investment

University spinout firm Llusern Scientific, which has developed a rapid diagnostic test for urinary tract infections (UTIs), has been boosted with a six-figure equity round investment. The Cardiff-based company - which spun out of the University of South Wales - has been backed by the Development Bank of Wales in its latest fundraise aimed at accelerating its commercialisation.

Since the start of the year the development bank has invested in six spinout firms with a combined value of £1.7m. The others include Swansea-based Corryn Biotechnologies and Grove Nanomaterials along with Awen Oncology, a spin-out of Bangor University and Cardiff University. Cardiff Metropolitan University spinout Kaydiar and Cardiff University spinout Optimise.ai.

Llusern Scientific was established by microbiologist Dr Emma Hayhurst and molecular geneticist Dr Jeroen Nieuwland after they were awarded a discovery award from the Longitude Prize and UK innovation agency NESTA to develop an affordable diagnostic tool to combat antibiotic resistance.

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They were later joined by biomedical engineer Professor Ali Roula and diagnostic professional Martyn Lewis to develop Lodestar DX, a molecular diagnostic test system for both humans and animals that is non-invasive and capable of providing highly accurate results in 35 minutes.

Chief executive of Llusern Scientific, Dr Hayhurst said: “UTI prevalence is rising with an ageing population and the increase in antibiotic resistant infections. The gold standard for UTI diagnosis is